Comedian Don Rickles speaks at the 40th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine held at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California
*Viewers of TV Land’s American Film Institute tribute to Shirley MacLaine will be spared a joke told by insult comic Don Rickles comparing President Barack Obama to a janitor when the network airs its shortened version at 9 p.m. ET/PT on June 24.
“It’s not going to make it on the air —that’s all I’ll say about it,” a spokesperson for the cable channel told The Hollywood Reporter.
Meanwhile, Rickles’ rep tells THR: “He is not being censored. Before all of this started, we knew Don’s spot would be cut a bit for time, as would others, including possibly Shirley herself since the show ran over and we knew it was likely that might be edited. This is a non-story and requires no further comment.”
The black-tie evening, which took place at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, lasted four hours. The network’s telecast will run just 90 minutes.
Rickles’ material also included jabs at Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and MacLaine, although none went viral like the 86-year-old’s comment about the current commander in chief. “President Obama is a personal friend of mine,” said Rickles. “He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke.”
Asked to comment on Rickles’ joke, black actor Dennis Haysbert, himself skewered by the comic for appearing in Allstate Insurance ads, carefully tells THR, “I thought what Don said about me was very funny.” (Rickles has appeared with him on “The Unit.”)
But, observes Tamara Rawitt — who attended the AFI event and co-created and produced “In Living Color” — of the POTUS slam: “What was kind of magical was watching a room of deeply discreet A-listers secretly get off on watching someone getting a day pass to rant and rave. You need two AARP cards to get away with stuff like that.”
TV Land presented Rickles with its Legend Award in 2009.
why? youtube shows students slammin; the president, his body hung in effigy, been called tar baby, “your boy” and they want to delete a joke that quite frankly wasn’t funny, no matter whom it was directed at, by some 200y/o faded comedian? I grew up hearing his jokes on Ed Sullivan (DON’T judge me or my age). Like most when you’re on you’re on, he’d slip in a good’n somethimes but, for the most part, none of his jokes were funny
Isn’t this liver spotted fossil supposed to be the ‘master of insults’? I feel sick just looking at him.
GOOD!!! the joke was not funny but it was just disrespectful to Pres Obama.
Mr. Rickles is OLD-SCHOOL and “quite” tame compared to today’s comics. He’s not a racist and he jabs at every ethnic culture. He’s thrown jabs at EVERY president-that’s just who he is. The press is making a big to do about nothing!!
he’s insulted EVERYONE for 50 years. EVERYONE. except the Chosen One. We are not allowed to criticize el presidente.
we have officially entered chavez-land when don rickles is censored for insulting Dear Father.
sad. very sad.
Demorats might not want to watch this:
It is beyond tragic how the freedom of expression has been eroded under the Obama regime. The In-The In-Tank-For-Obama-Lame-stream media refuses to print broadcast or comment on anything that could possibly expose Obama for who and what he is … an abject failure.
As for Don Rickles … he poked fun at Frank Sinatra and some seem to forget even Ronald Reagan! But when it comes to the super thin-skinned, “Anointed One”, “The Messiah” the earth trembles and then … silence.
Freedom of speech and expression … that chapter simply does not exist in Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” Obama’s Marxist Handbook.
Prediction: The Presidential race won’t be close at all … Obama and his minions will be flushed out of office in a massive deluge come November. The question is how much damage can he inflict before he’s flushed?
In conclusion: It’s OK to mock a patriots like Ron Paul and Col. Allen West but NEVER Barry? …
Pray for America’s redemption.
The Obama racist Joke was the highlight of 86 year old Don Rickles’ career. Nevermind, this fat piece of turd.
Lefties have no sense of humor. They spend every day being insulted, outraged, and offended. It’s so sad.