A CNN host has gone viral for his response to the decision to book disgraced former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani as a guest on the singing contest The Masked Singer.
Reacting in disgust to the revelation that Giuliani was a contestant on the latest series of the hit show, anchor John Berman compared the choice to allow him to appear to booking Harvey Weinstein, urging the producers to 'do better.'
In a yet-to-air episode of The Masked Singer taped earlier this week, Deadline reports that two of the show's judges - Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke - stormed off the set in protest after Giuliani was unmasked as a contestant, leaving Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy to remain and interact with the man who became one of the central figures in former president Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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In a segment on the controversy aired on CNN on Thursday, February 3, Berman explained 'this story will blow your mind.'
'The subpoenaed disgraced former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, whose actions contributed to not one but two impeachments, who vigorously and publicly worked to overturn an election, turned up as he contested on a game show.'
Following a report by another CNN journalist on Giuliani's appearance, Berman made clear how inappropriate he believed the decision to be, saying 'It’s all about shock value... They want to put people on the show... [Giuliani] might be the most controversial person that’s ever been on the show.'
He continued, 'You know, next week on The Masked Singer: Harvey Weinstein. The week after that: [former Panamanian dictator] Manuel Noriega. Great job, guys. Great job. I hope the viewers that you’re attracting here are worth it to you.'
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'I know everyone gets a chuckle out of this, but you know, we can all do better than that.'
FOX - which airs The Masked Singer - has not commented on the incident, with the episode taped earlier this week expected to air at some point next month.
Giuliani is not the only divisive political figure to have donned a bizarre costume for the sake of publicity, with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin having also recently appeared on the series.
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News of Giuliani's appearance came on the same day the New York Times reported that Trump had directed Giuliani to explore whether it would be possible to seize voting machines in three key swing states in the wake of his election loss.
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Topics: US News