Posted on 08/11/2006 11:18:33 AM PDT by presidio9
Where was the bell when he needed it?
ADVERTISEMENT
Dustin Diamond, the irrepressible Samuel "Screech" Powers of Saved by the Bell fame, says he and a female fan got into a dust-up in an Omaha, Nebraska, hotel room that resulted in her trying to mug him.
The erstwhile tube geek, in town performing at the Funny Bone comedy club, says the unidentified fan attended his sold-out Sunday night gig and, in the wee hours of Monday, accosted him at his hotel room before trying to make off with his precious PSP videogames.
"I wake up and go to the bathroom and all of a sudden I hear this pound-pound-pound at the door," Diamond told E! Online in a phone interview Thursday. "I look out and see this girl with her hair hung down and I didn't put it together right away that it's the girl at the club."
Diamond says he first encountered the woman at the Funny Bone, where she hovered around him as he was awaiting payment from the venue's manager.
"This girl was behind me and our conversation must have given her the idea, I guess, to try and rob me," said Diamond. "And [around 3 a.m.] she's at the door screaming, 'Come on, Screech, my phone's in there.' And clearly just being a comedian, I'm like, 'Yeah yeah where is it?' "
She kept pounding and that's when Diamond says he called hotel security to have her escorted her out of the building.
About 45 minutes later, Diamond said he was opening his door to go downstairs to catch a ride for a 5:15 a.m. flight when he heard a "boom."
"Somehow she got back in and is now holding a can of Mace up," he recounted. "I'm freaked out and jump back and she says, 'Where's the money, come on, tell me where it is, and she's trying to look through my bags.' "
Diamond managed to call 911 and the hotel security. He said he tried to "give her a house shirt to make her go away," referring to the T-shirts he's been hawking to save his Wisconsin home.
Then, he said, "she grabs my PlayStation Portable games, said, "This will have to do," and goes running out the door.
"I'm a big gamer and you don't mess with the D-man's videogames," he said.
Diamond, an alum of Celebrity Boxing 2, said he tried to stop her but she yelled, "Rape!" and "Help me!"
"I'm thinking great, this is all I need," Diamond said.
The actor said he managed to recover his games as police arrived. He and the woman both gave statements to police; he was allowed to leave to catch his flight.
A spokeswoman for the Omaha Police Department said no charges have been filed and called the incident "a case of he said, she said." The officer did not release the woman's name.
Said Diamond: "I have crazy fans and stuff but for some reason, this stuff happens all the time. I guess it's because of the T-shirt campaign we've just drawn a lot of attention."
In June, the former kid star took to selling autographed shirts via his Website to raise $250,000 to stop a bank from foreclosing on his Milwaukee-area home. Diamond has said that although he made $2 million over his 10-season run on Saved by the Bell, his parents took most of his earnings and he was screwed over in a real estate deal.
Diamond, who's scheduled to perform in Los Angeles and New York in the coming weeks, recently taped the Showtime comedy special, White Boys in the Hood, which is slated to air next month.
He should join a cycling team. I don't think there is any danger of him testing positive for testosterone.
Any publicity is.........
If there isn't a "Saved By The Bell" ping list, there should be.
He stomped a sweat hog twice his age. That's gotta count for something.
There is something missing in this story. Methinks his performance was over before he got her to the room.
We're doomed!
didn't he just win last comic standing? LOL. they look a lot alike. he and Josh.
A sold out show @ the Funny Bone = $12 admission x 300 patrons. Wonder what his cut of the $3600 gross was.
So, did he sell enough t-shirts to save his house?
I had never watched Last Comic Standing until I saw the final two performances before the winner was announced. I couldn't believe Josh Blue won. How long can he ride his disability schtick? Ty Barnett didn't exactly blow me away, but he made me laugh while doing what most comics do, which is just standing and walking around the stage. He didn't have the advantage of exaggerating a "funny" walk.
Oh well, Robin Williams came in second in the San Francisco competition back in the seventies. Who knows what winner Dexter Madison is doing now.
Usually a good chunk of it since the club makes most its money on drinks. I used to be the sales director of a comedy club in the 90's.
Josh Blue won? This guy was not even funny. I felt sorry for him b/c all his jokes were about his disability. He's a one-trick pony. He got the sympathy vote, IMO.
I agree. Hopefully, Ty will have the good sense never to say it out loud.
There have always been comics who acted like they were retarded/disabled/unstable (Bobcat Goldthwait, Howie Mandel in his pre-Deal or No Deal career). Eventually, they flamed out. On the other hand, obese comedian Louie Anderson was never just The Fat Comic; his jokes about his weight were part of a larger package of his angst growing up, and how he can look back and laugh now.
Screech in green...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.