The CEO of KB Homes, Jeffrey Mezger, was feeling less than neighborly on Saturday when he flew off the handle at Kathy Griffin, who lives next door. In his profanity-laden tirade, picked up on security cameras, Mezger lobbed a slew of sexist insults at Griffin and made a jab at her for shaving her head in solidarity with her sister, who passed away from cancer a week ago.
The trouble started when Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, made a noise complaint to LAPD. They had made several such complaints since the pair moved in next door to Mezger a year ago, but apparently Mezger was tired of being told to keep it down. He took particular issue with the latest complaint in part because it involved his grandchildren, who were playing in his backyard pool. Here’s the rant in question:
“You call on my grandkids at 9 o’clock? You’re not even the f*cking owner. You’re stuck with a f*cking bald d*** who Donald Trump kind of put the heat on. Now you’re calling the cops? F*ck you and f*ck Kathy. You’re not our f*cking neighbor, you’re a f*cking a**hole.”
When Griffin came out of her home to ask what all the commotion was about, Mezger continued to unload on the couple:
“If you’re asking Randy what’s happening, he called the cops on my 5-year-old granddaughter, you f*cking C***t. Bullsh*t — 9 o’clock at night — oh, this party’s loud, this party’s really happening. F*ck you. I’ve done enough trying to be a nice partner — f*ck you, neighbor. War’s happening. Don’t wait until we’re gonna bring some things on you. Now f*ck you.”
Five days later, the KB Homes board elected to cut Mezger’s annual bonus by a quarter, and put him on probation. They stated that “if in the future there is any similar incident, he will be dismissed.” As of this week, KB Home shares have dropped 2.3% since Mezger’s tantrum went public.
As for Mezger, he apologized but wasn’t exactly contrite. “Though Mr. Mezger does not believe there is any excuse for the language he used,” explained Mezger’s spokesperson, “the incident that led to his losing his temper was the result of the culmination of a series of unneighborly actions taken by Ms. Griffin and her boyfriend.”
(Via CNBC & Huffington Post)