On a recent episode of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” there was the occasion for yet another assault on priests. In a skit about the Royal Wedding, Dame Edna played a British correspondent. She was shown taking secret footage of the event while Leno pretended to be speaking with her live.
Dame Edna approached a vendor selling a cheese called “Stinking Bishop.” Upon hearing the name, she said, “Stinking Bishop? My son toyed with the priesthood. Or perhaps it was the other way around.”
Jay Leno would not be allowed to smear over 40,000 Catholic priests—over and over again—if NBC executives objected. His relentless assaults suggest a tolerance for bigotry that is disturbing. Leno and his scriptwriters are a sick bunch. What made this skit so invidious was its wholly gratuitous nature: there is no relationship between the Royal Wedding and Catholic priests. No matter, the writers just decided to jam their way in with another shot at priests.
We said that it was time Catholics took their protest to the top as numerous complaints to Debbie Vickers, the executive producer of the show, have been dismissed. We asked our members to contact NBC Entertainment’s executive vice president of publicity, Rebecca Marks. Hope she gets the message.
