I’m becoming something of a single-issue celebrity fan, and it’s messing with my identity.
When Jay Leno questioned the cruelty of Michael Vick‘s actions, it was easy enough to wash my hands of him. I’d never liked Leno, and his utter lack of compassion aligned well with my vision of him as plastic and soulless.
But hearing similar statements from Chris Rock left me devastated. This funny, intelligent, edgy comedian I’d adored for years was defending Vick? Could I compartmentalize Rock’s remarks and still love his humor, if not him as a person?
I tried, I really did. But like Barbara Walters, Wayne Pacelle, and Barack Obama, Chris Rock’s name was crossed off one list and added to another. (Ok, so I never really liked Barbara Walters in the first place either.)
And then there’s Howard Stern. I am staunchly, unapologetically, not a fan. Not because of his sexist attitudes or explosion of hair you can smell through the radio, I just don’t find him funny. Not clever, not witty, not smart, not funny. And funny is what I want in a self-proclaimed humorist.
Last Thursday on his radio program, all that changed. The shock jock actually stunned me, telling sidekick Robin Quivers (in essence) he’s disgusted by people who dump their pets when they’re no longer convenient. Stern’s rant, fueled by his wife’s account of an elderly dog who’d been abandoned at the shelter where she volunteers, included:
“I hear these stories, I want to vomit… The owner moved. Can you [expletive] imagine?…If you had a member of your family and you had to move and you can’t take the dog because the building doesn’t allow dogs, don’t go to that building!…I can’t stand people…”
Impressed as I am with his stance on the issue, I probably won’t be tuning into Sirius radio regularly. But I do admit, I’m absolutely [expletive] shocked.
