By now you have probably heard about the Billy Bob Thornton blow-up on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Q TV.
The reason? Billy Bob was royally miffed that the show’s host, Jian Ghomeshi, had made reference to his acting career in contravention of an agreement Billy Bob had made with the show’s producer. Billy Bob’s reaction to that “major” travesty, was to give nonsensical answers whenever he wasn’t stone-walling the now befuddled announcer.
The result? Thornton came across as an lubricated prick, so full of himself that a pin-prick to him would have sent him splattering all over the studio equipment. The problem? Jian Ghomeshi never got to delivering that much needed pin prick to Mr. Billy Bob’s ehh …. gold member. Why? Well because he was too busy sucking up to the dyspeptic misanthrope.
Billy Bob Thornton: Once a prick .... His self-absorbed churlishness sends his band packing from the Willie Nelson/Ray Price tour of Canada. Photo: Jack Plunkett, AP
Ghomeshi never called Bill Bob out on characterizing Canadian fans’ as “Mashed potatoes and no gravy”. Leave it to the ballsy Canadian fans to send Billy Bob and his Boxmasters packing after they mounted a highly vocal “Here comes the gravy!” protest at the next show.
Billy Bob and his boys were opening for Willie Nelson and Ray Price. This makes him the second American to slip on a banana peel involving a CBC media personality. The first was Governor Sarah Palin during her ill-fated campaign as John McCain’s number two.
Mr. Elocution - Musician turned broadcaster, Jian Ghomeshi: Circumlocution is no substitute for growing hairy orbs between your legs.
My word of advice to Jian Ghomesh: I know you are a well respected and eloquent voice on CBC, but you need to grow a backbone, along with a little hair on your balls. Did it ever occur to you to call out the boorish Billy Bob on his pissy attitude and characterization Canadians fans as “Mashed potatoes and no gravy?” Circumlocution is no substitute for growing some balls man. Methinks you have have some “splaining” to do to your Canadian listeners.
Billy Bob clearly came into your studio with a suck-my-d*ck-attitude like a Cell Block C goon. You didn’t have to oblige.
The Infamous Clip: You can catch the whole strange drama on Youtube here:, as Billy Bob partakes of the joys of airline food on his way back home.
If anything, this may be anecdotal proof that Angelina Jolie may have been a masochist at some point in her life.
Jian Ghomeshi’s telephone interview with Associated Press after the controversial interview went viral, did nothing to betray any deeper understanding of what had happened beyond the patently obvious. Carped Jian: “To not answer questions because I made the apparently egregious mistake of calling him an actor as well as a musician, it just seemed a little absurd.”
He added: “It does raise questions about the expectations of parameters that people ostensibly think that they put on us as arts, culture and entertainment journalists.” Say what Hemingway?
Hyper-manicured imagery that smacks of Steve Jobs-ian obsessiveness: "Mod-billy" slicksters, The Boxmasters as back-to-the-future musico-nauts. The band's iconography, through and through, reveals the same fastidiousness, which begs the question of form over substance. Jian could have had the balls to raise this with the Boxmasters and let the chips fall where they may.
The real losers in all of this are the other Boxmasters band members; J.D. Andrew (electric/acoustic guitars, bass, background vocals) and Mike Butler (electric guitar, lap steel, dobro). The actor formerly known as Billy Bob Thornton is formerly marketed as W.R. ‘Bud’ Thornton (drums, vocals/background vocals).
If the actor formerly known Billy Bob doesn’t not apologize to J.D. and Mike, they should abandon his ass as soon at their plane touches down states side.
copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com
5 responses so far ↓
Steve // Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 7:06 am |
I watched the video. Billy Bob Thornton is a bloated and haughty example of the “I act so apparently I am nearly curing cancer” self-importance of some “stars”.
I do think that your comments aren’t much less acerbic and inflammatory than the drivel that Thornton spewed.
“Hairy Orbs…”? Come on, that’s as juvenile and silly as the Monster magazine. The guy is on a nationally syndicated radio show and was trying to save the interview. And frankly, if he had just taken BBT on, it would have been to the disrespect or the other band guys. (Man, they must put up with some freaky BBT shit, eh?)
I’m just saying that all the references to pricks and balls seemed a bit too BBT.
Steve.
cyberaxis // Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 8:40 am |
Trying to save a friggin’ interview doesn’t exempt Jian Gomeshi from taking a stand where and when Billy Bob disses Canadian fans en masse. “Mashed potatoes and no gravy”? That was provincial and plain ignorant for someone who purports to be a man about town and a veritable historian of music. What Billy Bob did was the rough equivalent of a visiting Pentecostal preacher characterizing local Episcopalians as a bunch somber icebergs.
Jian had a lot of material to work with for his interview without the surly antics of Billy Bob. If Jian did not have the testicular (yes testicular) fortitude to take Billy Bob on, he could have ignored him after the first couple of rebuffs and concentrated on the other band members. They were uber couth and articulate sans Billy Bob’s attitude.
Please go back and watch that Youtube clip and tell me Jian wasn’t sucking up under the spell of a jerk who was carrying on like a jail-house potentate. Because of that sucking up, Gomeshi ended up glossing over stuff that he shouldn’t have glossed over. I salute the Canadians who booed Billy Bob out of town. Jian should have exhibited at least a touch of that outrage in the studio interview. He did not. And only he can explain why that was the case.
The Editor – Cyberaxis
(Remember the words of Chaim Bertman,
“In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”))
Deb // Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 11:20 am |
I can understand the desire to smack down BBT after it was clear he was showing his ass purposely, but I think Mr Ghomeshi showed true professionalism in the way he addressed BBT’s attitude without sinking to his level. Had it been me I would have said, “piss off then” and confined my questions to the other band members who HAD to be cringing inside at the crap BBT was mumbling…that or revelling in the publicity they were gonna get. No, I applaud Mr Ghomeshi. I don’t think he let Canadians down or was sucking up. He was professional and respectful.
Deb
Jon // Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 4:28 pm |
Attacking someone back can more often than not, make you look like a douchebag as well. Gomeshi was fueling the fire by continuously “sucking dick” in your words, (never visiting this blog before I’ll assume it’s low-brow mash-potatoe with no gravy audience) by exposing topics his producers (BOSS, maybe you can understand that,) outlined was not grounds for discussion; Especially while segregating the rest of the band. Kudos to him, he’s gain much deserved credit for this interview, while you remain an idiot.
cyberaxis // Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 5:16 pm |
Dear Jon,
I have purposefully quoted your comment verbatim for the record so readers make out the broad strokes of your convoluted thinking. Next time you want to respond to something on this blog, sleep on your response so you can edit it in the morning before posting.
Your syntax kind of reminds me of Gomeshi’s abstruse and tortured comeback in the wake of the interview controversy.
The Editor – Cyberaxis
(Remember the words of Chaim Bertman,
“In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”)