Welcome to the March 30, 2015 edition of Outrage Watch, HitFix's (almost) daily rundown of all the things folks are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story: Katy Perry scores a win over the tabloid press.
OK! magazine has retracted a story claiming that the pop superstar was pregnant and planning a wedding with ex-boyfriend John Mayer, presumably after threats of legal action by the singer. Perry subsequently retweeted the magazine's entire retraction before following up with the tweet:
REMEMBER these magazines are fiction designed for entertainment. NO ONE speaks for me. Instead let the previous tweets speak for themselves.
– KATY PERRY (@katyperry) March 30, 2015
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Assuming she typed this from atop an animatronic tiger.
Want more? There's plenty of indignation to go around. See below for a full roundup of today's kerfuffles.
Outraged: Twitter
Target: Roger Moore
Why: The former 007 star became the target of vitriol over the weekend after he was quoted by French magazine Paris Match stating that any actor who plays James Bond should be “English-English” — seen by many as a racist slam on presumptive new Bond Idris Elba despite the fact that Elba's name was never invoked by Moore.
Cliffnotes for the Roger Moore story: Old white person is racist. In other news, sun sets in the West.
– Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) March 28, 2015
Saw ‘Roger Moore” trending and got sad at the thought he had passed. Instead, he”s just turned into a racist old man.
– Martin Bean (@martinbean) March 28, 2015
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Hands up whose surprised Roger #Moore is a racist! No one then? Thought so.
– Rich (@Rich_Dixon84) March 28, 2015
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“He is not english english” but you sure are a “racist racist” Mr Roger Moore.
– All Day Nigga (@ZuluZaire) March 28, 2015
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Idris Elba can't play Bond because “I'm a massive racist”, says Roger Moore.
– Joe Harrison (@Joe_Harrison1) March 28, 2015
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Moore has since hit back at the outrage, tweeting:
An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba. That is simply untrue. #Lost in translation.
– Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) March 28, 2015
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Indeed, the quote in question references not Elba but rather actor Cuba Gooding Jr., who unlike Elba is not British. Here it is in its entirety:
“A few years ago, I said that Cuba Gooding Jnr would make an excellent Bond, but it was a joke!” And later: “Although James may have been played by a Scot, a Welshman and an Irishman, I think he should be ‘English-English”. Nevertheless, it”s an interesting idea, but unrealistic.”
Thanks to the Daily Mail for unnecessarily stirring this up.
Outraged: At least one fan of fired “Top Gear” host Jeremy Clarkson
Target: BBC Director General Tony Hall
Why: The executive is reportedly under the protection of “elite bodyguards” after receiving an emailed death threat by an individual seemingly angry over the firing of Clarkson, who was let go from the popular automotive program last week after an internal investigation found that the “Top Gear” host had assaulted a producer. According to the Daily Mail, Hall and his wife Cynthia “have been guarded round the clock at their home” since the threat came through.
Outraged: Music producer Jolene Cherry
Target: Prince
Why: Cherry has accused the Purple One in a new lawsuit of poaching former “Voice” contestant Judith Hill and releasing her first album for free online, in alleged violation of a contract Hill signed with the producer and Sony Music.
“Judith Hill”s first album-“Back in Time”-is now out, but rather than cheering along with her, the people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop her career and album and worked to position Hill for her first release (as well as those who co-wrote many of the songs) are sitting dumb-founded on the sidelines while Prince gives away their investment for free,” the statement obtained by EW reads.
Hill's lawyer Peter Haviland has since struck out against the claims, telling EW that the singer in fact filed a lawsuit against Cherry earlier this month “to confirm that she was free and to stop Cherry from continuing to bother her.” His statement continues: “Prince supports, promotes and gives opportunity to truly exceptional talent like Judith Hill. It is a shame that Prince has been dragged into this insanity, but Judith Hill will not be deterred from performing her music by the likes of some Jolene Cherry.”
“The likes of some.” Oof.
[EW]
Outraged: Twitter
Target: Jamie Foxx
Why: The Oscar winner has come under fire for his opening monologue at Sunday's iHeartRadio Music Awards, in which he told a joke that many have labeled as transphobic.
“We got some groundbreaking performances, here too, tonight,” Foxx said from the stage. “We got Bruce Jenner, who will be doing some musical performances. He's doing a his-and-her duet all by himself.”
The actor was quickly slammed by the Twitter legions:
Just so we're clear: what Jamie Foxx said about Bruce Jenner is really not okay #iHeartAwards
– Jess (@yolibrarian) March 30, 2015
Totally unacceptable for the @iHeartRadio awards and Jamie Foxx to poke fun of Bruce Jenner for his gender change. SICKENING!
– chelsea. (@_chelbell24) March 30, 2015
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Jamie Foxx making jokes about Bruce Jenner being transgendered was absolutely rude. NOT. FUNNY. AT. ALL.
– CHAD (@ItsAllAboutChad) March 30, 2015
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Jamie Foxx's transphobic jokes at the iHeartRadio about Bruce Jenner were gross, glad they didn't garner much laughs
– Loki's Banphrionsa (@ReinaAtlantico) March 30, 2015
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Jamie Foxx just made a terrible, disgusting joke about Bruce Jenner's rumored transition on this trash awards show.
– Lauren Nostro (@laurennostro) March 30, 2015
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Oh yay, Jamie Foxx with the a few grossly transphobic Bruce Jenner jokes. Great way to kick off the #iHeartAwards. Blecch.
– Eric (@MrEAnders) March 30, 2015
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Feel free to indulge your own outrage with a clip of Foxx's joke embedded below.
[CNN]
Outraged: The Church of Scientology
Target: Ex-Scientology congregants interviewed for the HBO documentary “Going Clear”
Why: According to director Alex Gibney, the church has threatened former members who took part in the inflammatory film, a list that includes writer/director Paul Haggis, publicist Sylvia “Spanky” Taylor and former Scientology senior executive Mark “Marty” Rathbun.
“Most of the real vitriol is for the people who were in the film,” Gibney tells The Wrap in an interview about the film. “They”ve received threats of physical harm, threats of having their homes taken away, threats of being forced into bankruptcy. They”re being followed by private eyes and surveilled.”
[The Wrap]
Outraged: John Oliver
Target: April Fools' Day and those who love it
Why: “Pranks are terrible. Anyone who claims to be excited for April Fools' Day is probably a sociopath. Because what they're really saying is, 'I cannot wait to hurt the people closest to me.”
Outraged: Former SeaWorld orca trainer and “Beneath the Surface” author John Hargrove
Target: SeaWorld
Why: In a new interview with The Wrap, the former SeaWorld employee claims SeaWorld, Inc. is a “soulless” enterprise that employed intimidation tactics to try and stop the release of his book:
“They tried to threaten me and scare me so I wouldn”t write the book. This is very predictable behavior by SeaWorld. They”re bullies, but the difference is this time I”m the first trainer that they”re not shutting up.”
Among the horrendous claims made by Hargrove is that SeaWorld tried to cover up an incident in which Joanne Webber had her neck broken by an orca during a show. “Instead of allowing the ambulance to drive up to Shamu Stadium, they did not want people to see the ambulance and draw any attention to it, so they made her walk on her own I think 200 yards to the waiting ambulance, which was out of sight to the public,” Hargrove relates in the interview.
[The Wrap]
Outraged: T-Pain
Target: Diamonds, weddings
Why: In a recent Fader article that asked 11 musicians to tell the “origin stories” of their favorite jewelry, the rapper took the opportunity to bash diamonds…
“Diamonds are fucking worthless. Let's talk about that! Diamonds are worthless! Like, if diamonds are supposed to cost as much as they do, there shouldn't be as many of them as there is. They should be a lot more rare. Like, platinum shouldn't cost as much as it does, there's so much of that. None of this shit should cost as much as it does, but for some reason we keep thinking that we're supposed to pay more for black rocks than we should the shiny ones because they're newer.”
…and weddings…
“Weddings fucking suck, on the first day what we spend the rest of our lives together, let's get rid of all our money. Haha, sorry, rant.”
…and diamonds, again:
“Diamonds, my ass…miles a night…glass! That's what you can put in your goddamn chain, looks exactly the same. Costs a lot less.”
Righteous.