Geraldo's Selfie Continues to Haunt Him, Gets Him Fired From Panel Gig

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Gabrielle Bluestone

09/04/13 07:00PM

Filed to: Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera's mustachioed, leathery, regret-and-pipe-tobacco scented seminude selfie has cost the newsman a speaking gig at Duquesne University.

A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh school said the 70-year-old's photo — which he tweeted out with the caption, "70 is the new 50 (Erica and family are going to be so pissed...but at my age...)" — was "inappropriate and not in line with the school's values as a Catholic university." Rivera is calling the cancellation "pretentious censorship."

Duquesne's cancellation of my JFK panel appearance is pretentious censorship Do students agree with administration? Am I banned for life?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 2, 2013

Rivera was supposed to moderate a panel to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. New York Magazine points out that Rivera did actually have a pretty significant role in reporting the assassination — he was the first in the United States to broadcast the Zapruder film, one of the most clear, complete videos of the shooting.

[image via Twitter]

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60

Perry Downing Gabrielle Bluestone 09/04/13 07:06PM

Ach, if I looked like that at 70 I'd flaunt it too. Aren't we supposed to cut the elderly some slack? Or maybe give some slack to the cut elderly?

24

GregSamsa Perry Downing 09/04/13 07:10PM

Flaunt it? He looks like Stan Lee after a heavy round of chemo.

11

smalll2 Perry Downing 09/04/13 07:11PM

Agreed. I didn't understand why Geraldo got so much grief for this in the first place. He looks very good for 70, and he's shirtless. I don't see the big deal. And I'm one of the first to bewail the state of the culture; yes, I objected to Miley's performance unironically.

3

Perry Downing smalll2 09/04/13 07:16PM

Kids these days!

I think folks just like to laugh at Geraldo. He made himself into a brand and sold his journalistic integrity long ago.

6

mexiback Perry Downing 09/04/13 07:24PM

It's the "selfie" culture that we are living in... It's like, dude, is posting a semi nude on twitter completely necessary? I mean you don't look like a sack of bones, and that's excellent, but again, is it absolutely necessary?

27

Nefertitties Gabrielle Bluestone 09/04/13 07:05PM

Geraldo has always had a filter problem, saying whatever came to his mind and then calling it incisive and penetrating journalism. It's shocking really that his career has lasted as long as it has. And now that I know that he is the real Skeletor, all my negative feelings about him are justified.

3

Thunder-Lips Nefertitties 09/04/13 07:08PM

God, thats a sexy piece of destroying the universe...

5

GregSamsa Nefertitties 09/04/13 07:11PM

He's reclining on a Cringer-skin rug.

I don't know how to feel about this.

TheLongtimeLurker Nefertitties 09/04/13 07:13PM

Don't be too hard on him; I've felt pity / kept a soft spot in my hear for him ever since he failed to find Al Capone's lost treasure.

Nefertitties GregSamsa 09/04/13 07:23PM

Just think of it as a chartreuse tiger. No need to bring google into this.

3

MissNormaDesmond Gabrielle Bluestone 09/04/13 11:14PM

The sad thing about all this is that 35 years ago, Rivera was someone I had respect for. "Good Night, America", at least as I remember it, was a great show. I don't know whether I was mistaken about him at the time, or whether the intervening years changed him for the worse (probably a bit of both), but it's too bad, because I'd never have imagined this trajectory for him at the time.

1

RhinestoneEater MissNormaDesmond 09/05/13 04:34AM

Dude, I feel you. I have this vague memory of Rivera being a good journalist. But it's been lost in the mists of time and Al Capone's vault.

1

blakeke Gabrielle Bluestone 09/04/13 08:58PM

It seems to me if you are following this guy on Twitter you are asking to see things at least as bad as this.

thingsandstuff blakeke 09/04/13 09:26PM

Great point, I never thought of that. "Wow, I really wish I had Geraldo Rivera's nuanced take on Syria before I formed my opinion. I'm sure he won't demagogue the issue."