LABJ Forum: Celebrity Dirt in a Post-9-11 World
On April 18, one-time television cop Robert Blake and his bodyguard were arrested and charged in the shooting death of Blake’s wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. A trial would be the most high-profile celebrity murder case in Los Angeles since O.J. Simpson’s prosecution captivated the city, the country and the world. But L.A. residents may already be tired of the news coverage on the Blake case and not want to endure another hyped murder case and trial. So the Business Journal asks: How interested are you in the Robert Blake case?
David Cremin
Partner
Zone Ventures
Totally uninterested. The whole Hollywood nature of it makes it even less interesting. It’s a disaster that anything so negative can happen to anyone. What do we have to gain from watching it? Probably about as much as we gained from watching O.J.
Dana Daurey
Actress
NBC’s “Providence”
I don’t care about the Blake case. It’s another actor in trouble. I don’t think the public needs to know all of the details. Just because he’s well known doesn’t mean that it takes priority over important news events that are going on around the world.
Michael Feinstein
Mayor
Santa Monica
Who? I absolutely don’t care at all and am not following it at all. Go Lakers.
Jack Cox
President and chief executive
Foundation for American Communications
I think that there’s a place for news coverage of stories like the Robert Blake case, but for all intents and purposes the Robert Blake case will not impact anyone in the United States. We’ve got major issues facing this country, facing the city of Los Angeles. The breaking up of the city of Los Angeles into two or three cities is going to affect everybody. I think the media is not serving the public by putting so much emphasis on stories that titillate, but certainly don’t educate.
Allan Abshez
Attorney
Irell & Manella LLP
Not at all. Celebrity murder trials are a cheap matinee distraction. My interest in celebrity stops when I turn off the TV or leave the theater or stadium. Gang killings, good schools for our children and homes and jobs for our community are much more important to me.
Michael Prywes
Writer/Director
No I don’t particularly care. Of course I care that somebody was killed, but compared to all the other issues of the day, do we really have the time to spend on something like this?
Ronnie Marmo
Actor
MGM’s “Deuces Wild”
I do care about the case. It really makes our industry look bad and makes us collectively as actors look bad. I don’t want to see another actor get away with murder again.