Jerry Lewis’s departure from telethon bit messy
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/08/2011 (5523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BEVERLY HILLS — The motives may be as purely charitable as ever, but the mechanics of Jerry Lewis’s departure from the annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon seem a bit messy at this point.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association’s confirmation Wednesday that the 85-year-old comedian is no longer the organization’s national chairman, and that he will not appear in this year’s Labour-Day-weekend telethon, are in stark contrast to statements Lewis made last week in Los Angeles during the U.S. networks’ semi-annual TV press tour.
Lewis was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to promote an upcoming U.S.-cable documentary called Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis when a reporter congratulated him on his 50-plus years on the annual telethon and asked how he felt about this year being his final appearance on the TV fundraiser.
“Who told you that?” an obviously irritated Lewis asked, having apparently forgotten his own announcement last May that he was retiring as host of the annual Labour Day telethon and that this fall’s appearance would be his last.
When the reporter in question said that he’d read the report in the media, Lewis’s response was, “Well, do you remember when the New York Times printed ‘Dewey wins?’ (an incorrect reference to an infamous gun-jumping 1948 Chicago Tribune headline that declared Thomas Dewey victorious over actual U.S.-presidential-election winner Harry Truman).
“I rest my case, pal,” Lewis continued. “Anything you read, read it twice.”
Later, Lewis refused to discuss details of his involvement in the upcoming Labour Day fundraiser, responding to another reporter’s question with, “It’s none of your business.
“On Sept. 5, the day after that program, I will have an international press conference with press from Reuters and London and China and Taiwan and all over the world, and I will have plenty to say about what I think is important.”
In Wednesday’s statement, MDA board chairman R. Rodney Howell said that Lewis “will not be appearing on the telethon” and that after his long service, the comedian “has completed his run” as national chairman and will not be replaced.
— Brad Oswald
