Welcome to Outrage Watch, HitFix's new daily rundown of all the things people are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story? Jesse Ventura puts “American Sniper” Chris Kyle on blast.
The former Minnesota governor slammed the Iraq war vet in an interview with the Associated Press published today, saying in part: “A hero must be honorable, must have honor. And you can't have honor if you're a liar.” Ventura was making reference to a passage in Kyle's book where the SEAL claimed to have punched out the wrestler in a California bar – an alleged fabrication that netted Ventura $1.8 million in a defamation settlement. So will he be seeing the movie? Not likely: in another choice quote, he calls the Clint Eastwood-directed biopic “as authentic as 'Dirty Harry.'” Oof.
Want more? There's plenty of indignation to go around. See below for a full roundup of today's kerfuffles.
Outraged: Whoopi Goldberg
Target: Anti-vaccine parents
Why: The “View” co-host is not having it with this nonsense. Said the EGOT bearer on Thursday's show: “Save your emails and your tweets, because I don”t care. I get that ya”ll feel it”s scary for you…Because I tell you, if I get measles from your kid because I haven”t had them, I”m coming to your house.” Brandishing her Oscar, no doubt.
[The Wrap]
Outraged: Twitter
Target: Amanda Palmer
Why: After sending out a supportive tweet linking to Jonathan Chait's much-discussed (and much-criticized) article on the rise of the “liberal language police,” the singer evoked anger from a number of Twitter users, with one writing: “i really didn't think @amandapalmer could get any worse but giving props to white male privilege … ugh ugh ugh @jonathanchait.” Seemingly a glutton for controversy, Palmer subsequently posted a poem about the kerfuffle which read in part: “i love you; i loved you/Winona Forever/i mean, i had feelings, one time, at some level.” See what I mean? Glutton.
Outraged: People who are anti-blatant sexism
Target: Mike Huckabee
Why: Isn't he charming? Here's Mike Huckabee calling New York's women professionals “trashy” for cursing – cursing! – in the workplace: “In New York, not only do the men do it, but the women do it. You just are looking around saying, 'My gosh, this is worse than locker room talk.' This would be considered totally inappropriate to say these things in front of a woman. And for a woman to say them in a professional setting, we would only assume that this is is a very, as we would say in the south, 'That's just trashy!'” Megyn Kelly offered a nice retort to this:
Outraged: The Church of Scientology
Target: Alex Gibney's Scientology-skewering HBO documentary “Going Clear”
Why: This one's been brewing ever since the film's premiere at Sundance, with the church setting up a Twitter account to dispute the documentary's claims and even publishing an article attempting to discredit Gibney and his sources. I blame those pesky thetans for all of it.
Outraged: “Huffington Post” writer Lauren Duca
Target: Lifetime's trashy sub-genre of “true-crime” movies
Why: “When real peoples' lives are involved, you can't chalk up this kind of exploitative entertainment to just simple guilty-pleasure binge watching,” writes Duca in an article posted today. Salient point. “Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial in Italy” was my jam a few nights ago, and now I'm definitely feeling guilty about it.
Outraged: Eddie Huang
Target: ABC's “Fresh off the Boat” Twitter account
Why: After the official account for the upcoming sitcom tweeted a – shall we say – ill-advised graphic promoting the show, Eddie Huang, who authored the book the series is based on, responded with a series of tweets dubbing the image “offensive” and “TERRIBLE” and further stating: “you have to be a mouth breathing psycho to make that graphic.” Oh, dear.
[Buzzfeed]
Outraged: Various SPCA chapters and animal lovers
Target: Go Daddy
Why: The web-hosting giant's Budweiser-spoofing Superbowl ad went over like a lead balloon with animal rights activists. The groups and individuals in question took umbrage at the commercial's premise: after falling out of a pickup and finding his way home, an adorable puppy is immediately shipped out to a buyer. “Do you think puppy mills are funny?” tweeted the SPCA for Monterey County. “If you can buy a puppy online and have it shipped to you the next day, it”s likely you”re supporting inhumane breeding.” An online petition calling for the removal of the ad later garnered over 40,000 signatures, causing Go Daddy to ditch the campaign altogether. No word yet from the puppy community.
[Slate]