Musician Kid Rock was fired from his gig as the grand marshal of the Nashville Christmas Parade late Friday over remarks he’d made earlier in the day about “The View” co-host Joy Behar, not that he intended to back down. In fact, at first he appeared to double down.
In a statement to Variety magazine late Friday, an attorney for Rock’s business partner, Steve Smith, said that the musician planned to “show up … and try to participate as grand marshal tomorrow” despite the decision by the event’s organizers to replace him with someone else.
“My best analogy is it’ll be a standoff at high noon,” attorney Bryan Lewis said, adding that Smith owns most of the parade’s “stock” courtesy the $250,000 he’s donated annually to the city of Nashville, meaning the organizers had no authority to remove Rock.
“The other 5 percent of the people who hold stock held a closed-meeting excluding Mr. Smith and made a unilateral decision to exclude Kid Rock from the parade. It is our belief that, as the major contributor, Mr. Smith has the right to name the grand marshal of the parade.”
Rock’s termination from the gig was prompted by remarks he made earlier Friday while speaking on “Fox & Friends” about the growing political divisions in America.
Listen:
“We can disagree and still be cordial with one another and just talk about things without going for each others throats and protesting everything,” he said.
“God forbid you say something a little bit wrong you’re racist, homophobic, Islamophobic… people need to calm down, a get a little less politically correct, and, I would say love everybody.”
“Except I’d say screw that Joy Behar b-tch, everybody but that,” he continued, before quickly noting that he was just joking — that the point is that Americans need to be able “to still go have a beer with somebody,” no matter how much they disagree on the issues.
Within hours of the broadcast, Nashville Mayor David Briley’s office issued a statement saying, “If Kid Rock is still the grand marshal tomorrow, the mayor is inclined not to participate.”
Shortly thereafter organizers of the parade reportedly released their own statement announcing that Rock had been relieved of his duties and replaced by James Shaw Jr., the 29-year-old hero who saved numerous lives during the Waffle House shooting last spring.
But in his own statement posted to Facebook Friday evening, Rock made it clear he had no intention of backing down or issuing a faux apology to Behar.
“Today I said ‘Screw that Joy Behar bitch.’ Mess with the bull, you get the horns. End of story,” he unapologetically wrote, adding that she’s been just as critical of him as he was of her.
Look:
Behar has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and when Myself, Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent visited The…
Posted by Kid Rock on Friday, November 30, 2018
So what happened next? There’s good news and bad news. The bad news for Rock is that Shaw wound up serving as the grand marshal. The good news is that the musician didn’t really mind.
“Well folks, it is official…My parade has been rained on! But in the end, it is not about me. It is about the kids and the wonderful work they do at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital,” he wrote.
“Either way, myself, family and especially my granddaughter, are gonna enjoy today. Sending well wishes for a break in the rain and a successful parade. I love Nashville and the people she holds. But remember…Rock n Roll Never Forgets!!”
Look:
Well folks, it is official…My parade has been rained on!
But in the end, it is not about me. It is about the kids and…
Posted by Kid Rock on Saturday, December 1, 2018
It’s unclear whether he attended the parade with his family, though it sounds like he did.
It’s also unclear why there was such an outcry over Rock’s quip, given as Behar has made far more offensive remarks during her many years on “The View.” She’s derided Christians as mentally ill, described former President Bill Clinton’s sexual assault victims as “tramps” and referred to former NBC host Megyn Kelly as a “b-tch,” ironically enough.
Rock’s fans on social media were quick to point out these discrepancies:
So @KidRock calls Joy Behar a b***h and loses his gig as Grand Marshall of the Nashville Christmas parade. Meanwhile Joy Behar calls millions of Christians mentally ill, takes weeks to apologize and still has a job. If it weren’t for double standards the left would have none.
— Larry Kiedrowski (@LKiedrowski) December 1, 2018
Why? Joy Behar calls Christians & conservatives much worse things. Kid Rock just called her exactly what she is.
— ConservativeGayMale (@d1466595) December 1, 2018
@JoyVBehar has said so much worse about other people, like calling Christians “mentally ill.” Honestly, his comment has blown up into a much bigger deal than it should be.
— Karen Carr (@karenalicia) December 1, 2018
Amazing isn’t it? Joy can call women abuised by a democrat President, “tramps” and get a high five from same co-host who play indignant and outraged because KidRock dared to call her a bitch? The liberal media at it’s best!! The hypocrisy is laughable!
— Darnell (@DarnellB2232) December 1, 2018
Awwwww…poor little HATEFUL Joy!!! Can dish it out but can’t take it!!!
I REMEMBER WHEN SHE CALLED BILL CLINTONS VICTIMS…TRAMPS!!!
HOW ABOUT THOSE TGAT SPEAK TO JESUS HAVE MENTAL PROBLEMS!! #JoyYouAreABitch
— ??Gigi MAGA ?? (@gina_chevy) November 30, 2018
@JoyVBehar calls women “bitch” all the time. Sharron Angle & Megyn Kelly are two that come after spendin 7 seconds on a web search. @TheView @KidRock was just speaking his view.
— Human (@OutOfInk) December 1, 2018
Joy Behar is acting like a victim because Kid Rock called her, “a bi*ch”..
Sorry, not going to feel bad for a woman who calls me a racist every day, smears Trump & his family, & says Christians like Mike Pence who think they are speaking to God, are mentally ill.
Cry about it.
— Patriot_Mike (@PatriotMike6) November 30, 2018
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