Jake Tapper Talked Jimmy Kimmel Out of Santorum-Stillborn Joke
Jim Romenesko.com reports that at least one joke ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel planned for the White House Correspondents Dinner was deemed unacceptable for the political elite. In an interview on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, Kimmel said he ran jokes by ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper and other reporters.
Tapper & Co. flagged a joke about Newt Gingrich’s campaign being so dead Rick Santorum wanted to show it to his kids – a play on the Santorum family’s decision to show their stillborn son Gabriel to his brothers and sisters:
KIMMEL: I had some jokes about — like Rick Santorum. I said something like — well, I didn’t say it, but: Newt Gingrich’s campaign is so dead Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids.
STERN: You didn’t want any abortion jokes? [It's not an abortion joke, it's a mockery of pro-lifers.]
KIMMEL: People went like, uh-oh. I ran it by people who go to this thing.
STERN: Who do you run it by?
KIMMEL: There’s a guy named Jake Tapper at ABC News, I ran jokes by him. He’s been there a lot of times. There are a few other people — reporters.
Tapper confirmed to Dylan Stableford at the Yahoo! blog The Ticket that he helped Kimmel:
“I tried to help Jimmy with the temperature of the room. And yes, I thought that joke would cause the room to turn against him, perhaps even causing a stampede, with the Hilton getting in on the tar and feather concession. Seeking to spare him a Rich Little-like reception, I offered my suggestions–such as they are–as to which jokes might bomb.”
Kimmel joked to Stern that he also cut anti-Obama jokes, since "I decided right off the bat that the N-word was out." Stern replied: "That's not like you. You use the N-word every night in your monologue at least twice." Both men laughed.
- Tim Graham's blog
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Comments
➚ Now, that's sick
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 12:11pm.
Are we surprised?
➚ Those funny jokesters.
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 2:38pm.
Here's one:
Maybe he should take a poll.
Too soon?
ABC=All Bull Crap
Submitted by russedav on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 12:16pm.
& vile infantile deranged degenerate hypocrite Kimmel, never potty trained, is full of it.
Does Kimmel even have an audience?
Submitted by grammajane on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 12:52pm.
Never hear of any ratings for his show. He comes on at 1am in Mn. which is a good thing so his viewers are few. These late night jokers are all so pathetic. They could all have great one-liners about their hero but are all such cowards, they, instead, make fun of millions of Americans to get their few viewers.
And that's what liberal humor
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 12:59pm.
is all about.
I think even that liberal audience would be aghast.
And Kimmel would yell "Come on, it's a JOKE!!" acting as if they're unsophisticated clods for not seeing the humor in it.
And of course Kimmel didn't need to ask about Obama and "nigger" jokes, because everyone just knows that is, you know, inappropriate. But a dead baby joke he decided to test.
The very fact that Kimmel had
Submitted by The Architect on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 1:26pm.
The very fact that Kimmel had to be talked out of a line like that tells you something about his character.
Wouldn't a red flag be
Submitted by NCfairandbalanced on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 1:27pm.
Wouldn't a red flag be evident if you were a reporter, and the guy who was going to speak at this dinner HAD to be told what joke is appropriate? Wouldn't everyone, all political persuasion notwithstanding, get a person whom they didn't have to worry about that happening in the first place? I never heard this problem when a republican was president.
Oops wait...just answered my own question!