Fred Willard Loses PBS Job After Arrest (for masturbating in adult theater)

[Ian David]

Source: New York Times

After the actor and comedian Fred Willard was arrested in Hollywood on a charge of lewd conduct, the fallout was swift. PBS said Thursday that Mr. Willard had lost his job as the wisecracking narrator of its new show “Market Warriors.”

Officer Rosario Herrera of the Los Angeles Police Department said Mr. Willard was arrested about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday after he was seen “engaging in a lewd act” by vice officers on routine inspection in the 5400 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, the location of the Tiki Theater. He was later booked and released.

On Monday, PBS introduced the first of 20 episodes of its “Antiques Roadshow” spinoff “Market Warriors,” which pits professional antiques pickers in a competition to spot the best bargain.

Jeanne Hopkins, a spokeswoman for WGBH, the Boston public broadcaster that produces the show, said via e-mail, “Given the unfortunate news reported today, effective immediately, Fred Willard no longer will be involved with the ‘Market Warriors’ series.”

Read more: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/fred-willard-loses-pbs-job-after-arrest/

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First, they came for The Goodnight Show lady, and I didn't speak-up...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=229x4772

Then they came for Postcards from Buster...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcards_from_Buster#Controversy

Then they came for Ron Schiller...
http://www.salon.com/2011/03/09/npr_schiller_williams /
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4761718
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x590674


Then they came for The World of Opera Lady
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2150549&mesg_id=2150549

And then they came for Fred Willard


See also:

NPR and PBS lost their balls (AND their credibility) YEARS ago...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=620070

[Robb]

1. Wha' Happened?

[soleft]

51. I can't do my work!

[Berlum]

60. I don't think so

[Bluenorthwest]

2. What prudish crap that is...

PBS is a very backward organization, to say the least.

[Honeycombe8]

18. When you work for a family-oriented organization, there's probably a morals clause in his contract.

Something about getting charged with a crime involving moral turpitude or whatever.

As they say, if you can't stand the heat, get outta the kitchen. When you work for a young person's show or a family-oriented network, moral behavior goes along with the territory.

Even adults watch PBS during non-late hours, fully expecting people of moral character and nothing too racy or foul language. It's not cable.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Aw damn...

Fred is still one of the best straight men going. I hope he gets through this...

[eShirl]

22. He'll be alright.

His career isn't based on a children's show, for one thing.

[MADem]

62. Pee Wee Herman did the same stupid thing--it took him awhile, but he survived it. nt

[htuttle]

4. Most shocking to me: I had no idea that there were still adult theaters anywhere

[PoliticAverse]

8. There's still a need for them, where else can you masturbate in public ?

Oops.

[DJ13]

39. Lots of places

err, excuse me.......

[ButterflyBlood]

52. Public masturbation is actually legal in Minnesota

using a loose definition of "public" granted, but there are perfectly legal peep shows and massage parlors that allow it.

[Lex]

5. I thought that's what happens in adult theaters anyway?

Maybe I'm naive.

[Kali]

30. that is what I was thinking

[amfortas the hippie]

46. ummmm.

yeah.
does anyone go into a place like that, expecting Puritan Behaviour?
If so, I think the problem lies with the Puritan...
Like going into a Bar, expecting to find an AA meeting.
stupid humans.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. Oh my god, that's bizarre.

Holy hell.

[Politicalboi]

7. It's porn

You would think the theaters would build booths for one that show the movie. Charge extra for the privacy, and clean up. But beware of hidden camera's.

Years ago 1978 saw a racy show on HBO. A guy goes to a whore house, and asks for something different. The Madame shows him a room with a chicken in it. He looks at the madame with surprise. She says go ahead, it's free.

He comes out tells her it was great. Next day he comes back, and she tells him she has something new again. She leads him to a room where another man is sitting in a dark room and peeping through a hole in the wall watching a young couple have sex.

The first man (Chicken guy) says this is great as he peers through the hole. The other man says yeah this is great, but you should have been here yesterday. Oh yeah the guy says. Yeah the guy says there was a man here yesterday trying to fuck a chicken.

[bloomington-lib]

16. Ha!

[jberryhill]

37. The last time I heard that joke in the wild...

...musta been about 1973.

Wow. That's a classic.

[RufusTFirefly]

9. That's what I love about business. It's profoundly un-democratic

Kind of like drone strikes.
If the powers that be decide you're toast, you're toast, whether you deserve it or not.

[DrDan]

10. hahahahahhahahahahhahahahaha- this is just too rich . . . hahahahaha

According to TMZ, Willard is also "rumored" to be in pre-production for a movie entitled "The Yank."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/07/19/fred-willard-busted-for-pulling-pee-wee-herman-at-xxx-movie-theater-report-says/#ixzz2172DOULh

[Voice for Peace]

11. First they came for PeeWee Herman

(or second, or third.. don't know the timeline)



http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/p/Pee%20Wee%20Herman/pee__wee_herman.htm

Both remain loveable to fans, I'm sure.

[Ian David]

12. Pee Wee wasn't on PBS. n/t

[Voice for Peace]

15. silly me

[radhika]

31. PeeWee Herman (Paul Reubens) is still alive...

At least according to IMDB and Facebook and Wikipedia.

That death site is up to mischief.

[Voice for Peace]

40. I didn't think it was claiming he was dead? I didn't really look at the website,

just did a quick search for PeeWee's arrest and it took me there.

[sendero]

45. Imagine...

... seeing a penis in an adult theater! The shock!

[Voice for Peace]

53. seriously!

after all, what if there were children there??

[TlalocW]

13. Y'know, Fred...

Pee Wee got caught in 1991.. he had an "excuse." He didn't have the 24/7 mega-porn library called the internet that we do now!

TlalocW

[Fire Walk With Me]

14. Damn. Who cares. Bring Fred Back!

[Honeycombe8]

17. YOu'd think that the lesson of PeeWee would've taught him (and others) something!

How STUPID STUPID STUPID!

What is it with guys and masturbating in public in front of porn? Is exhibitionism a part of it, or what? I mean, these guys can do that at home! Or in a hotel room!

[RufusTFirefly]

19. You're assuming that Fred was thinking with his brain... n/t

[annabanana]

20. I guess I've always kind of assumed that that's what Adult Theaters

are FOR.

[eShirl]

21. Fred Willard was working for PBS???

The charge is bullshit; people in adult theaters should be left to masturbate in peace.

[Bossy Monkey]

23. I think he also does the radio spots for La Quinta Inn...

Perhaps I should rephrase that.

[frylock]

24. who the hell does that anymore?!

jeez, fred. ever heard of the INTERNET?!

[flamingdem]

42. No go. Romney put porn filters on those

[Fearless]

25. What pray tell were the cops doing in a darkened room...

Looking at Fred Willard?

[eShirl]

29. Lying to themselves about why they were really there

most likely.

[Fearless]

36. No doubt.

[Iggy]

26. C'mon! WHO hasn't done something similar? LOL...

but seriously, this looks like a gross over-reaction by PBS.

they could have given the guy a second chance.

[tabasco]

27. I feel a lot safer now that some guy couldn't jerk off.

Thanks cops.

[Hulk]

28. Peewee Herman II

Why? Is this what the norm is? I find this pretty odd. Get a computer and some internet feed. Do it in your own home or whatever. This makes zero sense to me, but then many things do make zero sense to me that apparently make sense to many others.

[mysuzuki2]

32. oh Fred, Fred, Fred

buy a fucking DVD player. They are cheap. Catch a sale and you can get one at Walmart for $29.95. A couple discs - $20.00. some hand lotion - $3.95, a box of Kleenex - $1.95. A 12 pack of beer, some chips and dip - -#15.00. Invite a few friends. A good evening - priceless! a hell of a lot cheaper than your fine will be.

[The Sushi Bandit]

33. His mistake was watching a movie in "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"

I love Paul and Fred!!

[bitchkitty]

34. Having a wank in a wank warehouse is illegal? Who knew? n/t

[Faygo Kid]

35. Impressive for 78 years old.

Pretty weird, but I still love "Best In Show."

[avogadro]

48. Buck Laughlin:

I went to one of those obedience places once... it was all going well until they spilled hot candle wax on my private parts.

[MADem]

63. I have to say, I thought he was older, but didn't think he was that old!

Impressive, indeed!

I guess he's getting "counselling" to avoid charges....and this article says he's a "mere" seventy two!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/fred-willard-must-get-counseling-to-avoid-lewd-conduct-charges.html

Prosecutors said Willard had a previous lewd conduct arrest dating to 1990.

"Should he complete the course, we will consider the matter closed," Mateljan said.

Willard's attorney on Thursday said the actor did nothing wrong.

"With all due respect to the individual officer, our belief [is] that Fred did nothing in any violation of any law. We will be working vigorously to clear his name in this matter," Paul Takakjian said in a statement to The Times.

[Monk06]

38. Wow Santa Monica has the money to pay cops to watch porno movies. I wonder if

they holstered their weapons before arresting Willard?

[tularetom]

41. WTF does he think the internet is for?

Or maybe he hasn't learned to type with one hand..

[Po_d Mainiac]

43. But at least he wasn't talking

or wearing an oversized hat!

[Frank Cannon]

44. Well, as Sammy Davis Jr. once sang...

Don't buff the knob, if you can't lose your job.

No, no. Don't do it.

[avogadro]

47. When you think about it,

it seems so bizarre.......you're in a theater watching hard core sex on the screen, and they arrest you for pulling out your johnson and playing with it. The images on the screen are not lewd, but Fred was performing a lewd act? Did they think he was gonna offend someone in the theater??

[Ian David]

49. "That man is MASTURBATING in the middle of my hard-core porn movie! Usher! Usher!" n/t

[Ter]

56. Well, I could see why it's illegal

Suppose he masturbates and it hits the guy next to him?

[Doctor_J]

50. From Mighty Wind

Fred: I took my wife to a Swinger's Club and the mayor was there. He said, "where's your wife" and I said, "you're on her"

[CBGLuthier]

54. Shame on PBS for pulling Willard

We watched the first episode but with unfunky Mark Walhburg narrating I think we will give it a pass.

[Retrograde]

59. Shame on PBS for producing and airing a reality knock-off

Aren't there already a number of shows with the same premise on basic cable? Isn't PBS supposed to be producing thought-provoking dramas and documentaries?

[leveymg]

55. What's really twisted are the Vice cops who hang out watching people in adult theaters all day

Those guys must've REALLY f-cked up to be assigned to that detail. Who would volunteer?

[Arugula Latte]

57. Why are the police wasting their time and resources on this ridiculous stuff?

[4th law of robotics]

58. He doesn't have a computer at home?

[Tabasco_Dave]

61. He's old school.

He loves the beauty of film on the silver screen.

[Canuckistanian]

64. Wankers n/t