Posted on 07/14/2004 3:01:51 PM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
Slim-Fast Sheds Whoopi Goldberg After Bush Riff
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comedian Whoopi Goldberg will no longer appear in ads for diet aid maker Slim-Fast following her lewd riff on President Bush's name at a fund-raiser last week, the company said on Wednesday.
Florida-based Slim-Fast said it was "disappointed" in Goldberg's remarks at last Thursday's $7.5 million star-studded fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
"Ads featuring Ms. Goldberg will no longer be on the air," Slim-Fast General Manager Terry Olson said in a statement, adding that the company regrets that Goldberg's remarks offended some customers.
Republicans have expressed outrage over the fund-raiser for presumptive Democratic nominee John F. Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, John Edwards, in which entertainers lined up to skewer the president.
The New York Post said of Goldberg's appearance at the event: "Waving a bottle of wine, she fired off a stream of vulgar sexual wordplays on Bush's name in a riff about female genitalia."
A spokesperson for Goldberg declined immediate comment.
Slim-Fast is a unit of Anglo-Dutch food-to-detergent group Unilever Plc .
© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd.
I heard on my local radio station this morning that Kerry now says the remarks were over the line.
And there is at least one thread at DU saying the same thing.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x579519
No, don't give them back your business just because they placated us for a short time. Remember why they hired her in the first place: because they agree with and support her views. Only they got hit hard in the wallet so they have to make a concession.
This isn't the first time Unilever (Slim Fast's parent company) has been involved in a political controversy. Unilever's Lipton Tea division continued to sponsor the Dixie Chicks' concert tour after the Chicks made their infamously disparaging remarks about President Bush in the spring of 2003. In fact Lipton parodied the public backlash in a commercial featuring the Chicks:
In the fall of 2003 the Dixie Chicks starred in a broadcast TV commercial for Lipton Ice Tea which made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the corporate blacklisting and the grassroots backlash: in the tea spot, the Chicks are about to give a stadium concert when the electricity suddenly goes out - but they manage to electrify the stadium all by themselves, belting out a rousing "a capella" version of "Set Me Free" to the raving cheers of the fans.
Apparently, Unilever likes to hire big-mouthed Leftists to represent their company. (I've read that the company executives are major supporters of the Demoncratic Party.) So please, keep up the boycott of Unilever products and keep their stock falling!
No. We accomplished our objective. Time to move on. There are bigger fish to fry in this election.
Make your own! It's much better. (Just doesn't keep as well, so don't leave it out for too long.) There's also a premium brand that is just as good as Best Foods/Hellman's, and has preservatives, if you can find it.
You are not nice. And I am falling off my chair.
Okay. Thanks, folks !
"but she was as funny as a bag of wet mice"
I'm still giggling over that mental image...;)
Yeah, that's what they said....
I saw you slip that guy a ten! LOL!
I'll pass it along to Steven, who, I'm sure, will be very pleased. :o) (Scroll down for the Whoopi pic.)
Steven as Babs Streisand.
That's ok! In this great country of ours, every man and woman can freely choose his or her mayonnaise. However, if Kerry wins the election, we'll all be eating this:
i hate when celebrities have too much influence to know what to do about it. so they use it for their own personal gain. they end up talking about things they should keep to themselves
she isn't the only one who got fire for opening their big mouth.
Who is swoonworthy?
William F. Buckley (be still my heart!) or Ron Reagan?
Donald Rumsfeld (*sigh*) or Tom Daschle?
President Bush (Ahhhhhhhhhh!) or John Kerry?
Conservative men are REAL men. They act like men. They don't sit around stewing in wishy-washyness. They make plans. They have character and conviction. They're terribly amusing and charming. And they just plain damn smell better than liberal "guys," i.e., conservative men smell like MEN. They don't wear Pierre de Foofoo Musk eau de toilette like Tom Daschle does.
At any rate, since I'm such a busy person, a terrific conservative (redundant, I know LOL!) man will have to find me. :o)
Our next FReep? The battle plans of the RATS have been to act like they're fighting on the side of righteousness, without letting up. We wouldn't have to act as if we're right, but just do the not letting up part.
That's the main problem of many Republican Senators, namely, that they cave in so easily.
If any of you (conservative) men know a good (single) conservative man (sigh) ping them on #478.
I don't mean do be crude about it, and I'm not a matchmaker, but this could be the "hidden rose" someone around here has been waiting for.
Lauren, you are the answer to some lucky guys prayer - hope you don't mind a little FReeper diversion here...
:~)
Golly, we could tell our grandkids that Whoopi brought us together!
BTW, it that one of the tests on the tickle.com website: "Are You a Meatball - or a Rose? LOL!
Nah, you're not being crude, but I must confess that I'm surprised. I had wondered if one of the Mods would throw me off for taking some liberties with the topic.
The Fine Print: I *do* have my little idiosyncrasies, but what else would you expect from a renaissance woman? :oD
:~)
Bwahahahahaha!
Well? Is that good???? :oO
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