Shortly after the episode where disgraced forner New York City mayor and #45’s “acting attorney” Rudy Guiliani was revealed as the Jack-in-the-Box on this week’s episode of The Masked Singer, fans of the show are crying foul, even dragging judges Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy on social media.
Back in February when Variety first reported the story, we had heard that Giuliani would be competing on the show, which had some fans outraged.
We also heard that both Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke stormed off the stage once Giuliani was revealed. Once the episode aired we learned that Jeong was the only one who left in disgust.
The mood seemed dour post-reveal, with Jeong outright glowering and crossing his arms, and eventually walking off during Giuliani’s reprise performance in protest, stating, “I’m done.”
“It surprises us all that you’re here on ‘The Masked Singer,’” the usually ebullient host Nick Cannon said flatly. No kidding. (The judges’ guesses as to Giuliani’s identity had been Robert Duvall, Elon Musk, and Joe Pesci, all more credibly part of the world of entertainment.) While it’s not unprecedented for this show and others like it to feature political figures, Giuliani’s role in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election would certainly seem disqualifying.
Rudy Giuliani.Michael Becker – FOX
“This is definitely something I never would have guessed,” panelist Robin Thicke said in shock. McCarthy and Scherzinger enthusiastically got out of their seats to dance and sing the lyrics to Bad to the Bone while Ken Jeong stormed off stage.
“I hope the world doesn’t soon forget @NicoleScherzy and @JennyMcCarthy being hype girls for the beyond disgraced Rudy Giuliani,” one naysayer tweeted after the viral moment aired. “@kenjeong had the only rational and reasonable response to this. Shame on @MaskedSingerFOX for giving Giuliani a platform.”
“I can’t with those two women anymore. Shame on them. Shame on the show,” another viewer griped, while a third social media user who witnessed the awkward moment added, “Much respect for Dr. Ken Jeung. Not surprised at Jenny and Nicole; disappointed with Robin Thicke and the entire #TheMaskedSinger management.”
While the ladies did receive some backlash, others did come to their defense applauding them for remaining professional and not letting their political beliefs overshadow the show.
“Ken was super upset and indeed stormed out,” an insider previously told PEOPLE. “Robin actually followed him because he and Ken are very close friends, and he wanted to check on him. Robin didn’t storm out because of Giuliani.”
Personally speaking, casting Giuliani is a new low for the show. I didn’t think they could go any lower with Sarah Palin back in March 2020, but this takes the cake.
The Masked Singer started out as a cultural phenomenon when it premiered back in 2019, but innthe three short years and multiple seasons they’ve managed to produce, it seems the show has reduced itself into one big joke.
Giving dangerous political figures a platform to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public is no different than Dancing With the Stars casting Sean Spicer (who former host Tom Bergeron tweeted he was disgusted by his casting), Rick Perry, Tom DeLay, Bristol Palin and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
These stunt queen antics that producers feel they need to pull will only drive ratings further into the toilet. I see nothing funny about giving Spicer, a man who lied every second of the day as Trump’s press secretary.
And don’t get me started on Giuliani, who I dispised as mayor of New York City, and did everything in his power, including putting his reputation on the line to overturn the 2020 election.
So no, Giuliani doesn’t get to have a redemption story. Not when you’re willing to commit treason for political gain, and destroy our democracy.
So if The Masked Singer keeps it up with the political stunt casting for ratings, they’ll end up getting themselves canceled off network TV, and end up streaming straight to Hulu like ABC banished DWTS to Disney+.