Danny DeVito

[Deleted]

I think the reason people are getting all upset and blowing it out of proprtion is because he's not a big fangirl of The President.

I think it's the opposite: people are willing to excuse, downplay and laugh at dumb behavior simply because they agree with his political views, as if admitting a fellow liberal can act like a jerk would somehow revoke their liberal membership card (I'm looking at you, Rosie O'Donnell, cackling hen).

If Lindsay Lohan showed up on the View drunk, people would be up in arms (including me) and she's much younger and has been in Hollywood much shorter than Danny Devito has. You said it yourself: he was unprofessional. And he should know better. Going on shows like this to promote his work is his job and anyone who shows up drunk to work has a problem. He's been in showbusiness nearly forty years. He's 62 years old, as old as my dad, and has three adult kids. What the hell is he doing partying all night enough that he's still drunk the following morning? It's not cute when young starlets do it, so I don't think it's "cool" when old guys like DeVito and Clooney do it. The only difference is that the starlets pretend it's sex-ay and guys like Clooney pretend they're the Rat Pack incarnate. But as the movie Swingers captured so brilliantly, whatever gloss you put on it it's still just a mask for jerkish immaturity.

[twodollars]

It was absolutely not a big deal at all. And I am not excusing him because I share political opinions with him. I would have laughed just as hard at Danny had he showed up and called Howard Dean (who I love) a rage-filled, nimrod who is destroying our country. He was a good drunk. He wasn't angry, belligerent or out of line. He was just drunk, BFD. Life goes on.

[Margo]

Thanks, I had a good laugh over this. He's a funny, smart guy.

I don't even view it as particularly unprofessional. If he was going to an important business meeting at work, it would be unprofessional. If he was doing an in-depth interview on a serious TV show, say The Actor's Studio, then it would definitely be unprofessional. If he were a politician doing a live debate, or if he was a CNN anchor, it would terrible. But this is the View! To quote Britney, "it's not that deep, y'all".

Even though he was drunk(ish?) and sleep-deprived, that didn't make his appearance any worse. He was perfectly coherent and very funny (maybe even funnier because of the booze). He wasn't Lohan- and Britney-drunk, which makes you unable to think. He was perfectly in control of himself.

I honestly have no idea why anyone would blow it out of proportion like this. I mean I do, but I'm sure that if the majority of the population (and media) consisted of normal people, everyone would just have a laugh and move on.

[Deleted]

If Lindsay showed up drunk, it would be a big deal because she's under the legal drinking age. Her partying is played up more in the press than, say, Sigourney Weaver's (I have no idea if she drinks; I just picked the name of an older actress) partly because legally she isn't supposed to be doing it at all. I think society as a whole doesn't generally care whether old farts get tipsy. Grandpa getting a red nose at the Xmas party and telling crazy stories: OK. College sophomore cousin getting hammered and flashing her crotch: ewwww.

Another reason I think DeVito's drunkenness isn't being seen as a big deal is that he's a bit of a gnome. He's tiny and funny-looking and though talented isn't seen as a threat or a pain in the ass. He's never made any enemies as far as I know. His politics aren't relevant to the issue, I think. A Repub celeb that also has a positive, harmless image and appeals to women, like Tom Selleck, would also have gotten a warm welcome (except from Rosie, who's nutzo).

[Deleted]

He was a good drunk. He wasn't angry, belligerent or out of line. He was just drunk, BFD. Life goes on.

I didn't realize there were "good" drunks and "bad" drunks. If Mel Gibson had told chicken jokes and slobbered a cop with kisses I don't think that would be excusable either. If someone in our office showed up one morning but was just hilarious I don't think the boss would be willing to let it slide.

You do not have to be a "belligerent and angry" drunk to have a problem. In fact, a lot of people with the most severe drinking problems are the most easygoing, because if they're a "funny drunk" they're able to count on everyone laughing and shrugging them off, "Oh, it's not a big deal," etc. They're the life of the party and thus able to disguise a problem because most people think that unless you stumble into a wall or scream and cry or try to beat up people you don't have a "real" drinking problem.

I don't know if DeVito has a drinking problem, but any 62 year old who shows up for work in the morning drunk is just not right. It's not like this is something he has to do every day, either - when was the last time he was on a talk show? You can't be sober and refrain from partying the one morning out of the year to fulfill a job the studio has hired you to do?

[Deleted]

You said it yourself: he was unprofessional.

I did. And I think that is his only crime. He was unprofessional in turning up for an appointment without sleep and still drunk from a party.

How he is being compared to Mel Gibson and Michael Richards by the people on the nets is just crazy IMO. He didn't say anything obscene. He acted a bit silly, said a couple funny things and that's about it.

I may be the only person who thinks this but DeVito being a funnyman and comedian would probably said eveything he said is he had turned up sober including making the faces. I've seen him on talk shows and he does talk like that, tties to be funny, acts silly and does the faces. That's his brand of banter.

I've seen on the nets a lot of political talk with neo-cons wanting to have DeVito read the riot act and fined or jailed or executed or some other extreme punishment for calling George W Bush "numbnuts" and making faces mocking him. That is the main problem most people who are enraged seem to have (not just oh, well, how unprofessional but yes enraged by it).

What did he do except show an expectional and uncharactistic instance of unprofessionalism by being tipsy on a talk show? I seen people bringing up and I quote "How dare he insult The President of this country at wartime. He is as bad as the terrorists. He's a traitor and he should be shot!".

Farah Fawcett has been drunk on a talk show twice that I know of. People thought it was sad and unprofessional. But noone asked for her to shot or accused her of being a terrorist of have ten martinis before Jay Leno.

And I still don't think he can be compared completely with LiLo who has a known party lifestyle and misses work and all the rest due to drunkeness etc habitually. Before this I have never heard of DeVito not showing for work, having professional problems or behaving outrageously in public. He doesn't have a big reputation as a perpetual drunk.

And as was pointed out LiLo is an underage drinker. Crime. Mel Gibson is a drunk driver. Crime. Michael Richards talked about lynching a black man. What some may consider a hate speech but apparently no illegal but his belligerent racist rant does seem to have done enough damage even if it wasn't illegal.

He called G-Dub "numbnuts". And there are people calling him a terrorist. (Not here - the other places where DeVitogate is starting to take over the net.)

[Margo]

It depends on the job.

If a coworker showed up drunk to work and was really funny because of it, but did his job just fine, my boss wouln't care. One of my coworkers recently confessed he sometimes likes to take a nice "walk" in the streets beside the office with a joint and then returns to work. He does his job just as well as when stone-cold sober, and our boss doesn't care. Does he know the guy is a fan of the chronic? Probably.

DeVito's job falls into the same category for me.

If he was a firefighter, a police officer, or a surgeon, then obviously it wouldn't.

[Deleted]

*full disclosure: I'm a committed teetotaller who despises drunkenness of any degree*

I think rather than 'good drunk' or 'bad drunk' in this case, the real determinant is 'entertaining/funny drunk' or 'belligerent/scary drunk'. DeVito was on the job, but few civilians see shilling a movie on a talk show as a job. It's entertainment. Also, DeVito was promoting a holiday comedy, light cartoonish stuff (if the trailer with the sled falling through the pond and the camel puking are any indication). If he was promoting 'The Nativity Story' or something equally heavy and serious, there'd be a much more negative response. He wasn't out driving on the highway or putting anyone else in harm's way. So people don't care. Rhea Perlman might care, but the rest of us don't.

Does he have a drinking problem? I have no idea. I guess we could say that for that night/morning he had a problem. We don't know if he does this with any regularity.

[Oxynia]

Is everything OK in here? Seems like a lot of energy is being spent on challenging each other's definition of acceptable drunkenness...

[Deleted]

dguzpy said:

*full disclosure: I'm a committed teetotaller who despises drunkenness of any degree*

I think rather than 'good drunk' or 'bad drunk' in this case, the real determinant is 'entertaining/funny drunk' or 'belligerent/scary drunk'. DeVito was on the job, but few civilians see shilling a movie on a talk show as a job. It's entertainment. Also, DeVito was promoting a holiday comedy, light cartoonish stuff (if the trailer with the sled falling through the pond and the camel puking are any indication). If he was promoting 'The Nativity Story' or something equally heavy and serious, there'd be a much more negative response. He wasn't out driving on the highway or putting anyone else in harm's way. So people don't care. Rhea Perlman might care, but the rest of us don't.

Does he have a drinking problem? I have no idea. I guess we could say that for that night/morning he had a problem. We don't know if he does this with any regularity.

Maybe he spends his private life drinking and having a merry old time. I'm sure that's his business what he does in private and if when he is not filming or going on TV he spends every night partying his socks with George Clooney. But I have not heard of any professional problems due to drinking or heard of him ever turning up on TV for a show drunk in his career.

Only this time. Not excusing him. It's still not a good idea. Even if it is only the View. One instance unnecessary makes people start thinking you are going to be habitually unreliable or whatever when you are not and are all in all very professional and always have been. It's a pity but it's a risk that people might overreact.

Yeah. I confess I don't see the big deal. He appeared on the View last week and saga is growing rather than dying down. I've seen other guests turning up tipsy to an interview. One person I remember really well was Quentin Tarantino when he was promoting Kill Bill. He said as soon as he got on that he thought he might be drunk because he was having cocktails in the waiting room. Like DeVito he was charming and funny and acted a bit silly. He didn't say anything nasty. It was the best interview I've seen Tarantino do. He was very charming and kind of sweet. And I usually do not find Tarantino charming or sweet. I usually don't like him and find him annoying and skeevy. And creepy. In case he shouldn't have been drinking directly before having to appear on TV. Not the smartest idea. And though QT was funny and engaging was still unprofessional on some level.