Posts Tagged ‘protest’

Parents Group Protests Britney’s Song

January 22nd, 2009

Britney Spears is ruffling feathers with a controversial song off of her new album, Circus.

The Parents Television Council is warning parents about Spears’ song "If You Seek Amy" and urging radio stations not to play it, they say, because it "would violate the broadcast indecency law" if aired between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Brit’s tune has received a lot of attention for its title, which some say spells out the F-word if said slowly.

"There is no misinterpreting the lyrics to this song, and it’s certainly not about a girl named Amy," PTC president Tim Winer said. "It’s one thing for a song with these lyrics to be included on a CD so that fans who wish to hear it can do so, but it’s an entirely different matter when this song is played over the publically-owned airwaves, especially at a time when children are likely to be in the listening audience."

 

The controversy isn’t stopping U.S. radio from playing "If You Seek Amy." Six top 40 stations have the song in rotation this week, enough to place the track at No. 92 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. Leading the pack is WFLZ-Tampa, Fla., which has played it 19 times.

"We’re confident the version of the song we air is not crossing any lines," program director Tommy Chuck told Billboard.com, adding that WFLX plays a Jive-created edit of the song that changes "Seek" to "See" as well as a jokey version in which morning host MJ shouts his name every time the word "Amy" appears.

Autism Group Un-Boycotts Denis Leary

October 31st, 2008 / Author: OK! Staff

Advocacy group Autism United has called off their boycott of Denis Leary’s book, Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, because the comedian apologized for comments made in it that they protested against. However, the group is now requesting that the offending chapter be deleted or that portions of the book’s profits be donated to assist children with autism.

The group had originally been up in arms over the portion of the book where Leary writes: "There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can’t compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks… to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don’t give a f—k what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you – yer kid is NOT autistic. He’s just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

"As a parent of a child with autism, I feel he owes the autism community the money he is making for using what has quickly become an epidemic in our country as a cheap ploy to sell his book," said comedian Mark Anthony Ramirez, a spokesperson for Autism United and Gabby’s Kids, and the father of a child diagnosed on the autistic spectrum,  "He should donate a portion of his sales to assist children with autism."

Denis Leary Upsets Advocacy Group

October 17th, 2008

Denis Leary is known for his foul-mouth style of comedy, but Autism United, a national advocacy group, isn’t amused this time.

 

The Rescue Me actor’s take on autism in his new book, Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, has prompted the group to announce a protest of his shows and call for a boycott on his book.

 

He writes: "There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can’t compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks… to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don’t give a f—k what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you – yer kid is NOT autistic. He’s just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

 

In a statement released by Autism United, president Evelyn Ain says they’re going to rally parents and children to picket the actor when he appears at Comics Come Home 14 in Boston on Nov. 15, as well as asking retailers to stop carrying the book. 

 

"The autism community is not taking this as a joke, says Ms. Ain in the statement. "If Dennis [sic] Leary feels by putting these… comments in [his] book [he's] going to create hype, we’re going to have autism families from coast to coast protesting his appearances, showing the joke is really on him."

Despite Protests, Katie Perseveres in Broadway Debut

September 18th, 2008

Judging by the crowd of screaming, sign-carrying protesters gathered outside the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in Manhattan on Thursday night, you would think a political rally was going on inside, and not the Broadway debut of actress Katie Holmes.

Wearing masks and holding signs with salacious slogans like "Free Katie!", "Scientology is a cult!", "Run Katie Run!" and "Free Katie! Keep Tom," many protestors shouted their distaste with the religion of choice for the former Dawson’s Creek star and her hubby, Tom Cruise.

"We’re not protesting the play, we’re not protesting her," explained one protestor who goes by the name of Little Sister. "We’re just showing her support pretty much. We’re showing her that she can have the strength to leave… We’ve seen Katie in recent televison and she looks miserable. She’s lost a lot of weight. We’ve seen her with purple hands."

According to the anti-Scientology crowd, they are are worried about Katie and her two-year-old daughter Suri. They also alleged to OK! that the Church of Scientologists had been attempting to stop the protest.

At one point, a fight nearly erupted outside the theater and police were forced to step in to calm things down.

However, despite rampant rumors that protestors would interrupt the actual performance, the audience inside the theater — including Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman in the fourth row — was well-behaved as Katie made her way through her first live performance of the Arthur Miller play All My Sons.

In fact, the audience cheered as Tom entered the theater and took his seat near the front of the house. He even took the time to share a brief embrace with Dustin, who later stayed behind to offer his congratulations to Katie.

As for her actual performance, one audience member tells OK! that Katie was "actually pretty good. She has her hands on her hips a lot like she’s posing for pictures and she projects her voice a bit too much, but she’s a good actress."

Regardless of any minor shortcomings, when the final curtain closed, the audience applauded, giving Katie and her co-stars a standing ovation.

"Tom had a huge smile on his face after the show," says one witness, who spotted the superstar actor heading backstage to congratulate his wife.

Outside, the pre-show crowd had swelled to more than 150 screaming fans and dozens of photographers as a half-dozen police officers on horseback patroled the crowd who now carried signs pronouncing, "Well Done Katie!"

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