Pirates scuppers Richards
2007-04-05 14:53
Los Angeles - Keith Richards reportedly will not promote the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie - after saying he snorted his dad's ashes.
Concerned Walt Disney Studio bosses have decided the Rolling Stones guitarist is too unpredictable to promote Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Dennis Rice, Disney's senior vice president for publicity, said: "When (a senior Disney publicist) forwarded the ashes story to me, I thought, 'How are we going to spin this?'
"Keith won't be doing a lot of publicity for this movie."
Keith has a much-anticipated cameo as Teague Sparrow, the father of pirate Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp.
Meanwhile, Keith has insisted his comments about mixing cocaine with his late father's remains and sniffing them were a joke.
Keith wrote on website www.rollingstones.com: "The complete story was lost in the usual slanting.
"The truth of the matter is that I planted a sturdy English oak tree. I took the lid off the box of ashes, and he is now growing oak trees and would love me for it. I was trying to say how tight Bert and I were. That tight. I wouldn't take cocaine at this point in my life unless I wished to commit suicide."
Bernard Doherty, from LD Communications the PR company which represent the Rolling Stones, added: "It was an off-the-cuff remark, a joke, and it is not true. File under April Fool's joke."
Keith told NME magazine the cremated remains of his father Bert, who died aged 84 in 2002, were the strangest thing he had ever snorted.
He said: "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father.
"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a shit. It went down pretty well and I'm still alive." - Bang Showbiz.com