Apparently, it doesn't matter when someone has used a racial slur. If that person is a celebrity, such as Paula Deen, there are consequences regardless.
Deen's contract with Food Network expires on Sunday, and she's losing sponsors left & right, all because she acknowledged using a racial epithet when giving a deposition in response to a lawsuit filed by a former employee of one of her restaurants. I had read or heard that the slurs were supposedly uttered years ago, but it doesn't matter in these politically correct times. As a celebrity, you're held up to a higher standard as a role model of sorts. Predictably, there has also been much complaint about how African-American recording artists haven't been cited for using the same slur in their own lyrics.
Now, does that make any sense? Of course not. However, it's just a matter of time before the climate changes there.
Amazingly, the New England Patriots decided to cut bait and cut tight end Aaron Hernandez after he was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder. Couple Hernandez's departure with the persistent injuries plaguing fellow TE Rob Gronkowski, and, well, a roster spot does open up for Tim Tebow, who certainly isn't going to get too many snaps at quarterback. Tebow at TE? Yep. Maybe he can reward coach Bill Belichick by leaving a tract or two under his office door.........
It doesn't matter that the New York Mets are in 4th place in the National League East. A quick check of their interleague record says they're among the best in play against the American League so far, sporting an 8-2 record, with the only losses coming against the Chicago White Sox (they split 2 games in New York before splitting 2 in Chicago the last two nights). They still have games left vs. Kansas City, Cleveland, & Detroit. Could they play spoiler in the AL Central? Yep.
Speaking of surprises, the Tri-City Valleycats are off to their best start in recent memory, sitting atop the Stedler Division in the New York-Penn League at 8-2 going into play tonight, and a perfect 4-0 at home. Whodathunk? Caution, though, is advised, as others have gotten off to quick starts in recent years, and faded faster than New Coke. It's on new manager Ed Romero to maintain the momentum and focus if the 'Cats want to win their 2nd straight division title.
Ring of Honor Wrestling is in a difficult situation, as champion Jay Briscoe's contract has expired. The company did an injury angle at the tapings on Sunday to buy time while they negotiated a new deal for Briscoe and his brother, Mark, who challenged Jay at Best in the World last weekend. Rumors have them moving to the WWE, right in the midst of a challenging angle that has copied what WWE & TNA have done in the past. A disgruntled veteran wrestler, Steve Corino, is leading a maverick gang of thugs to try to destroy ROH from within. Ultimately, he will fail, because he's charismatically challenged, over the hill, and irrelevant to most of today's audience, who've seen this tired act before. At a time when wrestling needs something of an alternative to the dreck offered by WWE & TNA, ROH is suddenly falling right into line. Not good.
Finally, the folks at Men's Wearhouse have decided that company founder and former CEO George Zimmer, the man behind the catchphrase, "You'll like the way you look. I guarantee it.", was not a viable piece of the company's future, and terminated him last week. Zimmer founded Men's Wearhouse 40 years ago, and has been the frontman for their ad campaigns since I don't know when, and this is the thanks they give him? Instead of a gold watch or a new car and a pension, they pink-slip him and stonewall the media when they're looking for rationale behind the decision.
Edit: 4/12/14: Here's a vintage Men's Wearhouse ad with Zimmer:
Men's Wearhouse will suddenly lose a lot of business if they don't reverse field and bring Zimmer back with at least a mea culpa, a pension, and the gold watch. Otherwise, he can always take a line from David Lee Roth, and tell them, "I'll have a bottle of anything and a glazed donut to go."
2 comments:
So much to chat about - so little time.
Re: Men's Wearhouse: I have heard many people who've patronized the business over the years have nothing but complaints. Primarily cheap material used for suits. More recently it's been mentioned MW outlets are changing clientele of their establishments from men looking for suits and tuxes to men who want to dress like lowlifes. They also mention that several "employees" don't seem to be treating patrons correctly at several stores. There may be something to what Zimmer said about not liking the direction the business has been taking.
RE: The Patiots:
The team's management must have been alerted to Hernandez's future because the timing of hiring Tim Tebow and letting Hernandez go following his arrest is no coincidence. Personally, I have a problem with professional athletes in any sport hiring people who are little more than street thugs. These guys get an obscene amount of money to play sports and in a sense are the face of the team. Kids worship them, they get endorsement deals and make even more money. Yet, they still have the need to act like the ghetto trash they were born into. Rather than realizing they made it and have better opportunities, they waste it on "street cred" activities. While sports figures of the past had their problems, they were never to the level of what we're seeing now. Can you imagine the likes of Joe Namath or Mickey Mantle (yes, an alcoholic I know) having been connected to murder of their friends or involved in some drive by shooting?
RE: Paul Deen:
This is bullying pure and simple. She is a registered Democrat and voted for Obama TWICE! She had Oprah and FLOTUS on her show or at events and had numerous black employees who got a second chance thanks to her business opportunities. To modify Jesus' words, let he who has never said a bad word, cast the first stone at Deen. This ultimately is about money. Her employee Lisa Jackson wanted about a million bucks worth. Never mind the fact that she herself benefitted from Deen's graciousness in hiring her at one of her restaurants and even wrote it in a note address to her and her brother, Bubba:
"When I came to work for this company, as a person, I felt hopeless. I needed something, some opportunity that could provide me hope as an individual, as a woman, to make it on my own. At 15, homeless, without parents and with a young child, my life was headed in a direction no one could ever assume positive. As you know, I did what I had to do to survive, but it clearly was not the freedom or happiness I ever hoped for... When I started working for Bubba, he gave me an opportunity that allowed me, over time, a freedom I have never experienced. He allowed me, for once in my life to take care of myself and for once, have faith in myself as a person and as a woman to know that I could do it on my own; y'all were my Aunt Peggy... I have been given opportunities that I never thought possible, all because of you and Bubba.
In fact, in Jackson's deposition she admitted that she never heard Paula Deen utter a racial epithet, never knew her to discriminate against an employee based on gender, and never knew Paula Deen to sexually harass anyone.
I only hope Deen sues the hell out of these greedy wretches!
Last subject first:
Paula Deen has been, well, railroaded. As you noted, Lisa Jackson admitted that she never heard Paula use a racial slur or do anything remotely unseemly. Whomever she's associated with now may be pushing her toward a grab for money for their own benefit, and using her.
Aaron Hernandez's case reminds me of Rae Carruth a few years back. A murder conviction ended Carruth's career. The same thing awaits Hernandez, and it will still reflect badly on Belichump and the Puketriots.
George Zimmer was bounced by a new generation of execs at Men's Wearhouse who wanted to water down the product to make it more accessible to their less-fortunate friends, and Zimmer wasn't digging their approach. You can't trust yuppies who only see dollar signs.
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