SNL skewered Fox & Friends and Hank William’s Jr.’s controversial comparisons of Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler:
And here’s the original for- real segment that got Hank Williams, Jr. axed from ESPN:
The original almost plays like an SNL skit.
I haven’t blogged on this, but the (hideous, reprehensible) analogy apart, Williams made the mistake that some celebrities do when they are hooked up with corporations and talk politics or make flip statements: corporations spend millions to create brands that transcend political wars, national divisions and international borders. They can’t have their brands damaged by a celebrity they signed up because of broad-based appeal who decides to make him or herself a divisive figure. If Williams plans going into politics he’ll find even a segment of Republicans won’t support him because lash-out name calling will only go so far.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.