Anti-Bush remarks cost Whoopi

2004-07-16 22:04

Los Angeles - Some may think Whoopi Goldberg's crack about United States President George W Bush was no big whoop.

But, in the latest case of celebrity censure over political remarks, Slim-Fast cut Goldberg out like carbs.

The diet giant dropped the comedy queen from its advertising campaign because the company's executives were unhappy with anti-Bush remarks Goldberg made at a recent political rally.

"While I can appreciate what the Slim-Fast people need to do in order to protect their business, I must also do what I need to do as an artist, as a writer and as an American - not to mention as a comic," Goldberg said.

"It's unfortunate that, in this country, the two cannot mesh."

Goldberg declined to be interviewed for this story.

She shouldn't have been surprised by the backlash.

Corporate groups - from the Baseball Hall of Fame to Disney and Fahrenheit 9/11 - have taken a backhand to politically inflammatory stars.

Used surname as a sexual reference

Goldberg took part at a recent Democratic fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York, joining performers such as pop stars John Mellencamp and Jon Bon Jovi; as well as actors Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange and John Leguizamo.

At one point in a speech mocking the Bush administration, Goldberg used his surname as a sexual reference.

The rally raised $7.5m for the John Kerry-John Edwards presidential ticket.

Both Kerry and Edwards attended, but neither commented about the jokes made by the celebrities toward Bush.

The Slim-Fast Foods Co is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the president's brother, Jeb Bush, is governor.

The company's decision to drop Goldberg probably has more to do with consumer complaints than the politics of the executives.

Slim-Fast is run by S Daniel Abraham, who has donated large sums to the Democratic Party.

"The conundrum here is advertisers like to be associated with hot stars, but they can't stand the heat," said show-business historian Tom O'Neil, author of The Emmys and Movie Awards

"Stars become hot because they are anti-establishment, they are rebels. The sponsors are the establishment, so they hire these people and then, the minute they open their mouths, they drop them."

Refused to release film

"The biggest shock is that Slim-Fast didn't recognise what a Bush-basher (Goldberg) has been for years," he added.

The Walt Disney Co refused to release Michael Moore's hot-button critique, Fahrenheit 9/11, with Disney CEO Michael Eisner saying the company "do not want a film in the middle of the political process" because he believed that theme park and entertainment consumers "do not look for us to take sides".

Fahrenheit 9/11 was distributed independently after Miramax chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein bought the rights from parent company Disney.

- AP