Was it something he said? I’m kidding. Of course, it was. Rudy Giuliani is no longer known as America’s Mayor as he was tagged after 9/11/01. Now he is known as Trump’s lawyer so he must be shunned by Trump-deranged C-list celebrities.
Why Rudy Giuliani was chosen to participate on a popular FOX show, The Masked Singer, is not explained. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a reputation as a guy who enjoys performing a song and dance routine. Sure, he’s a lawyer who performs in a courtroom, but that’s a different kind of entertainment. Let’s be honest, it was for ratings and the buzz the show’s new season will get because liberal snowflakes are so predictable.
I confess I have never watched the show. Frankly, I don’t get the fascination of guessing who is inside a full-body costume, singing to the audience. The show is described as the most-watched show on FOX, though, so someone is watching it. The new season will be Season 7 and it begins next month. It looks like Rudy’s episode is the first one of Season 7.
A mystery singing competition, The Masked Singer is hosted by Nick Cannon and features panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, and Robin Thicke. The show features singing celebrities facing off against one another with one major twist — each contestant is covered from head to toe in an elaborate costume, complete with a full face mask to conceal his or her identity. With each performance, the host, panelists, audience, viewers — and even the other contestants — are left guessing who is singing behind the mask. The costumed characters in season six include Baby (WC), Banana Split, Beach Ball, Bull, Caterpillar, Cupcake, Dalmatian, Hamster, Jester, Mallard, Mother Nature, Octopus, Pepper, Queen of Hearts, and Skunk.
So, who were the two triggered celebrity judges that walked out when it was revealed that Rudy was the mystery guest singer? It was Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke. Their bit of theatrics was countered by the reaction of the two women judges, according to reports. The women stayed put and “bantered” with Giuliani. His costume isn’t being leaked, at least so far. I may just have to tune in to this episode just to see how it handles two cowardly men who can’t even be in the same room as Rudy Giuliani. They returned, of course, because, you know, a gig is a gig. It’s not like their exit was a real stand on principle or something. It was theatre.
The last time this show delivered such a strong negative reaction to a masked celebrity was when Sarah Palin appeared on the show in 2020. New York Magazine delivers some snark in its report of the kerfuffle.
Turns out that the 2020 appearance of Sarah Palin performing “Baby Got Back” dressed a colorful bear on The Masked Singer was not the show’s low point. Now we are told by Deadline that an upcoming episode of the show will feature Rudy Giuliani, who most recently starred as Donald Trump’s election-coup engineer. We do not know at this point what costume Rudy was wearing or what song he was singing or — God help us — dancing to. Perhaps a hit song from his heyday, Modern English’s “I Melt With You,” would be appropriate after his famous November 2020 presser in which his hair dye streamed down his face, to say nothing of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
Giuliani has some experience with the Masked Singer genre, as reflected in his bizarre 1997 appearance in drag as “a Republican pretending to be a Democrat pretending to be a Republican” alongside the cast of the hit Broadway play Victor/Victoria. Nowadays, nobody doubts his MAGA political identity, which may be why two of The Masked Singer’s judges, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, reportedly left the stage when Rudy was unmasked.
Funny how this sort of thing only happens when Republicans participate, right? Progressive Democrats are so delicate. I wonder if Jeong and Thicke stomped their feet or slammed a door when they walked out. Their gesture has indignant teenage girl all over it. As could be predicted, other Democrats jumped in to voice their disapproval.
Anything for ratings, right? https://t.co/woeXU6oZQI
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) February 3, 2022
Yep. That’s the name of the game in television, as MacFarlane well knows.
Two other tweets came from people I’m not familiar with, for what it’s worth.
The Trump ally has been subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack—prompting writer and TV personality Dave Holmes to post: “Next time you’re about to complain about cancel culture, just remember that [Giuliani] got cast as like the Happy Li’l Slice o’ Cake on The Masked Singer.”
The USA Singers, which describes itself as “the first band of the resistance,” tweeted: “Rudy Giuliani went on the Masked Singer and now they have to change the name of the show to the Criminally Insane Drunken Singer.”
And, of course, here are a couple of examples of reactions from political media types.
We are only one month into 2022 and it is already nuts.
(Hey @kenjeong) https://t.co/iyiPQdNrrH
— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) February 3, 2022
The Masked Singer has no business allowing Rudy Giuliani on the air. He’s not a “controversial figure.” He’s under federal criminal investigation for seditious conspiracy against the United States. He’s a terrorist. Props to Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke for walking out in protest.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) February 3, 2022
Yes, brave, brave men left the room, unable to handle their emotions over seeing Rudy Giuliani. Doesn’t leaving the room mean you’ve lost the debate? We remember how outraged liberals were when Sean Spicer was chosen to compete on Dancing with the Stars.
Sean Spicer, a former Trump press secretary, also sparked an outcry in 2019 when he competed on Dancing With the Stars. The Hollywood Reporter’s TV critic, Daniel Fienberg, referred to Spicer in his criticism of Giuliani’s appearance.
“Shows like ‘Masked Singer’ and ‘DWTS’ too often operate as a disgrace-laundering operation,” Fienberg tweeted, which helped give the impression “that people like Sean Spicer and Rudy Giuliani are figures of innocuously adorable mediocrity worthy of having their status buffed from notoriety to fame.”
Somehow I don’t think if Bill Clinton showed up to play the saxophone on some talent competition or was chosen to be on Dancing With the Stars he’d get the same response. Liberals would think it was a great thing and conservatives would complain but I don’t think anyone would leave a room over it. Rudy’s a free man today whether progressives like it or not.
Via Hot Air