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Ty chooses Oprah over Decatur fest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oh, Tygert Burton Pennington, how could you? That’s the reaction at the Decatur Book Festival when news broke that one of their big draws, Ty Pennington — host of TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and hammer-swinger-made-good — is going back on his agreement to appear at the festival.
Pennington’s people have informed festival organizers via e-mail that Pennington has made another commitment for the same weekend — Aug. 29-31 — and is pulling out of the book bash. That other commitment is Oprah Winfrey, who wants Pennington to tape a segment for her TV show.
So just like that, Pennington dropped the Decatur Book Fest like a high school boy who scored a hotter prom date at the last moment. And this from an Atlanta native and Sprayberry High School grad in Cobb County, no less.
The last-minute snub is an unwelcome surprise for the festival, as organizers already had printed thousands of posters and programs with Pennington’s name on them. He had committed to promote his upcoming book “Good Design Can Change Your Life.”
“This is obviously very disappointing for us and for his fans here in Atlanta,” Daren Wang, the festival’s executive director wrote in an e-mail. “The publisher understands the hardship this places on a young festival, even one as successful as ours. We are working with them to bring somebody even bigger and better.”
Alexis Welby, Pennington’s publicist at Simon & Schuster told us in an e-mail: “Due to a change in a TV project Ty is involved in, he regrettably had to cancel his appearance at the Decatur Book Festival. But he hopes to be able to reschedule sometime in the future.”
‘Tropic’-al storm
On Wednesday afternoon, Betty Hasan-Amin arrived first at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema on a MARTA mobility bus for the disabled that she had reserved 24 hours in advance and ridden from her Stone Mountain home.
Hasan-Amin, 42, who has been disabled since a spinal cord injury when she was 17 and uses a wheelchair, immediately began speaking out against language used in the new Ben Stiller war comedy “Tropic Thunder.” The film contains frequent use of the word “retard” to describe Stiller’s character who made a movie called “Simple Jack.”
“It creates barriers,” Hasan-Amin says of the use of what she and others refer to as the R-word. Hasan-Amin was one of at least four protesters who showed up at the first of nine statewide protests planned for Wednesday in connection to the film. Other metro Atlanta protests were set at the Perimeter Pointe in Dunwoody, the North Point Market in Alpharetta and the Southlake Pavilion in Morrow.
Advocates for people with disabilities from the Arc of Georgia, disABILITY Link and the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities were involved. Kate Gainer, 59, who organized the Midtown protest, said by phone. “When you use the word ‘retard,’ that is hate language.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, DreamWorks Studios issued a statement through spokesperson Chip Sullivan, saying “Tropic Thunder” satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, and is in no way meant to disparage individuals with disabilities.
“We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future,” Sullivan said. “However, no changes or cuts to the film will be made.”
Carter under fire
Occasionally, we’ll begin to suspect that some ajc.com bloggers are, well, less than kind. But the New York magazine bloggers commenting on “Who’s Afraid of Jimmy Carter?” — reporter Amy Wilentz’s recent reported-in-Atlanta profile of the former president — are lobbing verbal Molotov cocktails online this week.
Says blogger Robmac: “Jimmy Carter is what you get when you tie colossal ego to unfettered sanctimony.”
Too kind you say? Get a load of what blogger Quercus has to say: “Carter was a dismal president, the greatest failure in the job in my lifetime until W came along. But he has set a sort of standard for the behavior of ex-presidents, devoting what prestige he has retained to causes he believes in, public opinion be damned.”
Helping to create a balance of opinions was this posting by Rubyduby, however: “Jimmy Carter is far too much of a gentleman to say ‘I told you so’ but you can’t escape the truth. If the policies his administration put in place had been allowed to continue, the U.S. would be energy independent today … It takes a true leader to always do what is right, not necessarily what is popular and that is exactly what Jimmy Carter did.”
Celebrity birthdays
Singer David Crosby is 67. Actor-comedian Steve Martin is 63. Romance novelist Danielle Steel is 61. Cartoonist Gary Larson (“The Far Side”) is 58. Film composer James Horner (“Titanic”) is 55. Singer Sarah Brightman is 48. Actress Susan Olsen (“The Brady Bunch”) is 47. Actress Halle Berry is 42. Actor Christopher Gorham (“Ugly Betty”) is 34. Actress Mila Kunis (“That ’70s Show”) is 25.
OVERSCENE
Congressman John Lewis, former Atlanta Mayors Sam Massell and Andy Young, Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall and U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin extending birthday wishes to politico and upcoming author Tom Houck at the new Vita, an Italian restaurant at 2110 Peachtree Road in Buckhead.
HIGH FIVE
Television
The Top OnDemand programs for the week of Aug. 4-10, as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta:
1. Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up,” music video, Music Choice
2. House of Payne, “Father’s Day” episode, TBS
3. Miley Cyrus, “7 Things,” music video, Music Choice
4. “House of Payne,” “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” episode, TBS
5. “House of Payne,” “All Is Not Lost,” episode, TBS
Courtesy: Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials
Contributing: Phil Kloer, Bob Longino and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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