The Masked Singer finally aired its big Rudy Giuliani episode on Wednesday night, which was leaked months ago — before the current season even began airing. And the reports were true that at least one member of the judges’ panel walked off the stage in protest shortly after the reveal.
Before Giuliani was unmasked, the four judges, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke, were given the chance to guess who was inside the colorful jack-in-the-box costume. McCarthy incorrectly guessed Joe Pesci, which was ironic in retrospect, considering the former New York City mayor’s apparent fondness for the film My Cousin Vinny. Meanwhile, Thicke guessed Robert Duvall, while Jeong went with Elon Musk and Scherzinger tried Al Roker.
Of course, all four were incorrect. “Is that Robert Duvall?” Scherzinger asked, as the head finally came off, to which Jeong could be heard quietly responding: “No, that’s not Robert Duvall.”
The reactions across the panel were wildly different. McCarthy appeared thrilled, jumping up and down, while Cannon and Thicke seemed shellshocked. “This is definitely something I never would have guessed,” deadpanned Thicke, with about as much enthusiasm as he seemingly could muster.
Jeong was the only judge who didn’t attempt to hide his disgust, and when Giuliani was given the chance to perform his farewell performance — fittingly enough, George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” — the comedian straight-up walked off stage. “I’m done,” he said.
As we all know, Giuliani was instrumental in former President Donald Trump’s “stop the steal” movement as the former president’s former personal attorney, which continues to poison American democracy from the inside out, and he has since been barred from practicing law in New York and Washington D.C. Dominion Voting Systems has likewise sued Giuliani for $1.3 billion over his claims.
So it’s completely understandable why some of the judges would be less than thrilled to see such a divisive figure being paraded about on stage for lighthearted entertainment. We get that the theme this season is “The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly,” but couldn’t they have gotten … oh, we don’t know, literally anyone else?
As clips of the reveal began to make their way around the internet, people were naturally gobsmacked to see the moment play out in real-time.
“Crooked, disgraced, ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani is revealed on The Masked Singer, sings ‘Bad to the Bone,'” tweeted former NBCUniversal executive Mike Sington. “Audience is shocked.”
“He should be in prison, but Rudy Giuliani is on The Masked Singer right now,” writer Parker Molloy pointed out.
“How anyone can support this creep is absurd,” added another user, with a clip of Giuliani’s disgusting cameo in the Borat sequel.
Others took issue with McCarthy, who seemed genuinely excited to see Giuliani — cheering and dancing during his final performance.
Hollywood Reporter critic Daniel Fienberg called it an “embarrassing fiasco,” adding that the clip of McCarthy and Scherzinger should follow their careers from now on.
Journalist Eric Michael Garcia pointed out the irony in the contrasting reactions, given that Jeong is a medical doctor and McCarthy is an outspoken anti-vaxxer.
“Jenny McCarthy, founder of the modern anti-vaxx movement, swaying around like a deranged fool while Rudy Giuliani sings in a jester’s costume as he stands in a box should just be the flag now,” summed up Bob’s Burgers writer Wendy Molyneux.
“Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Snickerdoodle ain’t shit why they up there dancing like they want to meet him in his roach motel later,” quipped another user. “Not even an ounce of shame.”
Jeong has yet to comment on the incident beyond what was televised, but we’d have to assume there were some pretty tense, behind-the-scenes discussions after the episode was filmed.
