Bob Eubanks Apoligizes
To Jewish Community

MICHAEL ELKIN

Special to The Jewish News

T

here was a message
that Bob Eubanks was
calling — and it wasn't
to offer a toaster oven chosen
especially for me.
Eubanks of TV's
"Newlywed Game" fame has
a newfound notoriety these
days thanks to the hit docu-
mentary Roger And Me.
It is not a fame he
welcomes.
So, said Eubanks, he
would welcome the oppor-
tunity to talk directly to the
Jewish community, hoping
to put to rest the controversy
surrounding a joke he made
that appears in Michael
Moore's anti-General Motors
satiric film.
Roger And Me is film
maker Moore's mordant
movie about his failed at-
tempts to interview General
Motors chairman Roger
Smith about the devastating
impact of plant closings on
auto town Flint, Mich. The
film has been nominated for
an Academy Award as best
documentary.
Eubanks, a Flint native
son, was interviewed during

His joke, a
not-so-funny story
involving Jewish
men, Jewish
women and AIDS,
has an off-color
punchline that has
floored some
viewers who
consider it
anti-Semitic.

a hometown appearance as
host of a fairground presen-
tation of the "Newlywed
Game."
His joke, a not-so-funny
story involving Jewish men,
Jewish women and AIDS,
has an off-color punchline
that has floored some
viewers who consider it anti-
Semitic.
Anti-Semitism is nothing
to laugh about, says
Eubanks. "And I am sorry I
ever told that joke," he adds.
"I think I am a decent
human being. But I told a
joke I shouldn't have and I
am truly sorry."
It was a sorry joke, one pro-

Michael Elkin is an
entertainment writer for the
Philadelphia Exponent.

jecting stereotypical images
of Jewish men and women.
Eubanks says he first heard
the joke from a Jewish
friend. But no excuses, he
quickly adds — "I have to
take all the blame for telling
it."
When he got wind of the
fact that the scene in which
he tells the joke appears in
the documentary, he immed-
iately got in touch with offi-
cials at the Pacific
Southwest Division of the
Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith in Los Angeles,
offering an unconditional
apology.
David Lehrer, ADL re-
gional director, recalls that
meeting. "Eubanks express-
ed regret and apologized."
While obviously not con-
doning such jokes, Lehrer
observed, "Who of us has not
told a joke that we later
regretted?"
Of course, adds Lehrer,
this joke had the added im-
pact of being part of a film
being shown around the
country. But that is only
part of the story, according
to Eubanks. Yes, he knows
the joke was In bad taste;
yes, he regrets saying it; and
yes, he would never do such
a thing again.
But no, he never knew that
he was being filmed as part
of a documentary.
And, for Eubanks, trying
to get in touch with film-
maker Moore has proved as
elusive as Moore's attempt
to corner G.M. honcho Roger
Smith.
While he does not fare well
in the scenes at the Flint
fair, Eubanks thinks Moore
took unfair advantage of
him. "A man came up to me
wanting to interview me
about the 'Newlywed
Game,' he recalls. That
man was Michael Moore.
"I acquiesced. While they
set up the cameras, we goof-
ed around and I told this
offensive joke, knowing full
well that many times, when
there's a lot of goofing
around (on a filming site), no
one ever has the bad taste to
use it in a film."
Or so he thought. "About
four months ago, my secre-
tary said that I was getting
some real bad comments (in
the mail) about comments I
had made in a documen-
tary."
Before long, Eubanks real-
ized that Roger And Me
would become a film credit
his career could do without. ❑

itiOtteg "

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