Age is supposed to be coupled with wisdom, right? Here are five cases where it clearly is not -- and it's why I just wish these celebrity scandals involving older people would simply go away.
1. Bill Cosby.
Reading what he is accused of doing makes my eyes bleed. How many more women can we anticipate coming out of the woodwork and holding hands with Gloria Allred as she mouthpieces allegations of rape against the formerly erstwhile Dr. Huxtable? Yes, I think these woman are telling the truth, but that doesn't matter. It's just that the statute of limitations is likely to forever keep Cosby out of court, and he's already lost big time -- as he should -- in the court of public opinion.
What else are we gunning for here? His reputation is shot, his career over, and his legacy forever tarnished. Even powerhouse Creative Artists Agency -- no stranger to celebrity scandals -- unceremoniously dumped the 77-year-old comedian when things got too hot in the kitchen.
Maybe the larger question we should be asking is why on earth is there a statute of limitations on rape anyway? Discussing that -- instead of what wife Camille knew and when did she know it -- feels more forward-thinking to me.
2. Brian Williams.
Why exactly is he coming back into our lives? He embarrassed himself professionally, did the unthinkable as a journalist, and was arguably no Walter Cronkite. Williams should have vanished into oblivion; instead, after embellishing stories and making himself less trustworthy in the process, the NBC Nightly News former anchor-who-can't-remember-whether-he-was-shot-down-in-a-helicopter is coming back to a TV screen near you. Thanks, NBC for setting the bar so low. Worst of all: I find myself agreeing with The Donald.
3. Anything Duggar.
I kind of hate to give the principals of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting the status of celebrity. The show was taken off the air last May shortly after the sexual molestation scandal broke about Jim Bob (I love double-names don't you?) and Michelle Duggar's eldest son, Josh. I admit the show was never on my TiVo list. In fact, if it weren't for a few persistent Facebook friends with a disturbing fascination for big families, I might have been able to keep my head in the sand on this God-loving clan. Now, I just can't escape them. It's the train-wreck you can't un-see.
4. Paula Deen.
The TV chef who we most love to hate is still at it. It was bad enough when the Food Network canceled her show in 2013 after she used a racial epithet. But like all bad pennies, Deen came back in our lives when her (quickly fired) social media manager posted this throwback photo of her son dressed in brown makeup as I Love Lucy's Ricky Ricardo. Yeah, that.
5. Real Housewives from everywhere.
Kim Richards (Beverly Hills) is just the most recent in a long string of misbehaving housewives. It taxes my brain too much to remember all of them who have gotten in trouble. We can only conclude that housewives anywhere are always on the shady edge of the street.
Richards' former fiance, commodities salesman John J. Collett, was murdered outside a Los Angeles deli in 1991. The two were speaking on the phone when the shooting occurred -- something that she spoke about in an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
She was arrested last April for going on an alleged drunken rampage at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and charged with resisting arrest, battery on a police officer (she allegedly kicked someone), and being drunk in public. She admitted to Dr. Phil that she has a drinking problem, to which we'd have to cheer and add, Brava! Who says self-awareness is dead?
Wouldn't it be great to have celebrities role-modeling something besides their flaws?
