An old entertainment industry adage says that controversy sells. This also jives with another mantra that the only bad press is no press. Frankly, I think these platitudes were created by an agent who was working overtime trying to justify his 10 percent cut.

If these are true, the antics of celebrities should never surprise the rest of us who toil in relative obscurity. Yet it still galls me that these oversized egos continue to strut their questionable stuff in every kind of venue. Their perpetual failing comes from the assumption they’re the only ones with anything worth saying.

Take Kanye West. Please.

Although West’s size 12’s are no strangers to his oral cavity, he still decided to up the ante during the recent MTV Video Music Awards. Not only did he interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech but he appropriated her microphone to proclaim his preference for Beyonce’s video.

What I found laughable was his lame statement afterwards. “You can’t blame a man for speaking his mind,” West said to the audience.

Unless you haven’t a mind to speak of, Kanye.

Letting Swift later finish the speech during her award, Beyonce showed she was as classy as West was classless. Hopefully, Kanye’s entourage pointed out Beyonce as an example of how to behave. To his credit, he later apologized to Swift in public and in person.

Of course, maybe I should instead try walking a mile in poor, misunderstood Kanye’s shoes. We obviously underestimate the unrelenting stress fame and fortune can put on a person.

Chicken chunks! Those of us in the South, where manners are still held in high esteem even if they’re not always exhibited, know better. If I had made such a shameless public display, I wouldn’t have to worry about public reaction. My mother would have marched up on stage and kicked me where it hurts most. The same can be said for most parents.

The arrogance of celebrity is evident in every field of endeavor. Whether it’s Gov. Mark Sanford droning on about how he will stay in office or South Carolina native Albert Haynesworth ruthlessly stepping on the face of a Dallas Cowboys lineman after his helmet had popped off, celebrities think they’re immune.

The time has come to create a league of women to enforce behavioral norms on these morons. Maybe letting mothers give their wayward offspring a little what-for from time to time will stop this nonsense.

Besides, Mom’s been dying for a reason to wear the steel-toed boots I gave her last Christmas.

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.