Essay 1433

Seeing No Evil with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Evel Knievel thinks Kanye West is just plain evil. The daredevil rider filed a lawsuit against the recording artist. West produced a music video where he played a character called “Evel Kanyevel,” and Knievel is charging copyright infringement. “That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I’ve ever seen in my life, and he uses my image to catapult himself on the public,” griped Knievel. Wonder if West will argue that Knievel doesn’t care about Black people.

• Taco Bell launched a newspaper campaign and media blitz to address consumer concerns over the E. coli outbreak, with the company president even offering his daughter as proof the food is safe. The company president told his college freshman kid that all is well and announced to the media, “I can assure you, I would not tell my daughter that unless I absolutely believed it.” No word if the Taco Bell Chihuahua made similar assurances to his puppies.

• Rosie O’Donnell and Joy Behar of The View are taking heat for their recent mimicking of the Chinese language. While discussing the drunken Danny Devito appearance, O’Donnell said, “The fact is that it’s news all over the world! You can imagine in China, it’s like, ‘Ching chong ching ching ching chong — Danny DeVito — ching ching chong chong chong — drunk — “The View” — ching chong!’” The president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans complained, “It’s a way to denigrate us and perpetuate the notion that we’re these strange people who speak a strange language.” O’Donnell countered with, “It was not my intent to [offend] … I am Irish. I do an Irish accent — make drunk jokes — [stereotypes]. This is comedy.” Tell it to Michael Richards.

• The Super Bowl halftime show will feature a performance by Prince. Somebody better beef up censor security.