Ford and the 22 Minutes joke: Was it funny?
Well, Toronto mayor Rob Ford didn't think so.
Well, Toronto mayor Rob Ford didn't think so. He called the police shortly after This Hour has 22 Minutes comedian/actor Mary Walsh showed up at his house this morning dressed as the infamous Marg Delahunty.
Ford later told reporters it was dark, he had his young daughter with him and he didn't know who Walsh was — and that she didn't identify herself. "There was a lady dressed up and she was screaming my name: 'We got you Rob Ford, we got you.'" His daughter was scared and went back in the house, he said. And Ford, in light of recent death threats, called the police.
CBC spokesman Chris Ball confirmed the show tried to interview Ford, adding the interview began on Ford’s driveway and ended shortly after (you can see a clip of it here). "These surprise interviews are what 22 Minutes are known for and have been a part of the show for years," Ball said.
So, did Ford overreact or did the show cross the line?
Media, so far, are divided.
[node:ad]Toronto Life finds itself surprisingly sympathetic and says it will give Ford the benefit of the doubt.
The National Post's Kelly McParland writes:
I know if I was leaving the house in the morning with my daughter, and some insane person rushed at me with a sword, I’d fall over in uncontrollable laughter. Because I’d know, instantaneously, that it wasn’t really one of the crazies who had been threatening to kill me … I’d know it was actually Mary Walsh dressed up like Marg Delahunty, and this was just one of those riotous ambushes they do on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, because they’re just so doggone funny. Well, I’d know that, and no doubt you’d know that, but unfortunately Rob Ford didn’t know that. Maybe because he was thinking about his daughter. Or maybe because he was thinking about the council meeting he was on his way to attending. Or maybe he was thinking about those threats he’s been getting …Or, possibly, it just didn’t occur to him that they’d send a woman dressed like a Viking to rush screaming across his lawn at 8 a.m."
But elsewhere in Postmedia, it's been reported 22 Minutes only pulled the stunt after Ford turned down interview requests. The Globe and Mail suggests Ford should turn on his TV tonight if he's still mystified by the whole encounter.
What do you think? Did the show cross the line — or should Ford have a laugh?
