You may remember back in October before the presidential election, the Donald challenged President Barack Obama to present his college transcripts and passport records in exchange for a $5 million donation to charities of the President’s choice. Obama never took Trump up on his offer.
Bill Maher, appearing on the Jay Leno show in December 2012, quipped that he would “be willing to offer $5 million to Donald Trump that he can donate to a charity of his choice – the Hair Club for Men, the Institute for Incorrigible Douchebaggery – whatever charity,” if the Donald can prove that he was not “spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.” The orange red hair of an orangutan and Trump’s comb-over are the only two similar colors occurring in nature, thus the conclusion follows they must be related. That joke apparently took things too far for Donald Trump. He, well aware that he was not a human-orangutan hybrid, directed his lawyers to file suit against Maher.
As the Hollywood Reporter aptly states:
“Maher is a comedian, his ‘offer’ might have been pointed, but what judge is going to agree there is an objective basis for saying it was understood to be more than a joke” especially when Maher presents evidence of the studio audience laughing.
The Donald appears to be on a quest to be taken serious and kill jokes. In one of our recent blog posts we reported that Donald arbitrated with a judgment proof beauty queen and won, apparently to make a point. He is willing to try that again with Bill Maher. This quest seems to be pointless and quixotic, but when you have a lot of money and a battery of lawyers at your disposal, apparently you can afford to engage in this type of behavior. Bill Maher recently devoted a significant part of his television program to this lawsuit.
Comment: My take on this squabble is the only beneficiaries of this dispute will be the lawyers. If Maher and Trump are as civically minded as they claim to be, they should each donate $2.5 million to charities, walk away, and not burden the court system with the macho contest. Trump has recently voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Maher, but Trump’s lawyer has informed news sources that the lawsuit was only temporarily withdrawn and will be amended and refiled at a later date.
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Links to videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvrrm3i2Lfo&feature=player_embedded
http://www.gossipcop.com/bill-maher-donald-trump-new-rules-video-ape-monkey-orangutan-lawsuit/