The Village Voice gossip writer Michael Musto was on MSNBC’s ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ on Monday to discuss Ashlee Simpson’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ lip-synching gaffe. Asked about the singer blaming her band, Musto responded, “Well, first of all, why is her father giving interviews
about her acid reflux situation? Can‘t she talk either? We know she can‘t dance because of that jig. And we know she can‘t act,
because we‘ve seen her on TV. What can she do? Acid reflux is what I get when I hear her singing live, which is very
rare, by the way. But this kind of shifting of blame from the band
to her health problems is very like the Twinkie defense in the Harvey Milk case or the wardrobe malfunction thing with Janet Jackson. It‘s like O.J. changing his alibi every second. It is criminal. She should be arrested.” Read on for a complete transcript.
OLBERMANN: Whenever the pop culture train derails, we turn to the
singular columnist of “The Village Voice,” friend of COUNTDOWN, Michael
Musto.
Michael, good evening.
MICHAEL MUSTO, “THE VILLAGE VOICE”: Oh, my God. Hi, Keith.
(LAUGHTER)
OLBERMANN: I am assuming, despite that and with that, that you
are appearing entirely live and not prerecorded tonight.
MUSTO: My drummer pressed the wrong button, but I am just going
to keep going with this routine here.
OLBERMANN: So, first, she blamed the band. Then said she
had only lip-synched because her throat was rough from so much work, and
then her father blamed it on is acid reflux disease. And then she
apologized for blaming the band. That‘s all today.
What the hell actually happened here?
MUSTO: Well, first of all, why is her father giving interviews
about her acid reflux situation? Can‘t she talk either? We
know she can‘t dance because of that jig. And we know she can‘t act,
because we‘ve seen her on TV. What can she do?
Acid reflux is what I get when I hear her singing live, which is very
rare, by the way. But this kind of shifting of blame from the band
to her health problems is very like the Twinkie defense in the Harvey Milk
case or the wardrobe malfunction thing with Janet Jackson. It‘s like
O.J. changing his alibi every second. It is criminal. She should
arrested.
And I think “Saturday Night Live,” which, by the way, has live in the
title, has to be also held responsible for deluding the public. And
now I am looking back through years of telecast and wondering, was Sinead
O‘Connor lip synching when she ripped the picture of the pope? Was
Tracy Chapman lip synching “Fast Car”? I can‘t live with that.
OLBERMANN: Oh, goodness. No, you would have to like resign
from your column if that were the case.
When you think about it, by the way, live. It‘s not live on the
West Coast. It‘s not been live on the West Coast for the entire history
of the show. That doesn‘t bother anybody.
But that tape, why was there a tape? Was it a backup or is just
this a straight con job? Is everybody lip synching from start to
finish?
MUSTO: I believe it‘s a total con job. I believe she lip
synchs to a tape. Look at the first song she did. She was barely
moving her mouth.
(LAUGHTER)
MUSTO: But they say her voice was a little rough and ragged.
She had this chronic condition that she has never mentioned before.
And so she had to go along with the backup tape. I‘ll take the girl‘s
word for it.
Apparently, she won‘t be hurt by this because we live in a time when
you can get away with anything. Look at Paris Hilton.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MUSTO: She says the N-word and she gets endorsements. People
thinks she‘s a classy lady.
OLBERMANN: One last thing in 30 seconds. You have some evidence
that she tried to use that microphone that was only a prop that didn‘t
work?
MUSTO: Well, during the dress rehearsal, she tried to talk to
the audience. By the way, Jessica is supposed to be the dumb one
in the audience. She forgot that her mike wasn‘t on. So the
audience was looking at each other like, what is she trying to say?
They couldn‘t hear her.
Obviously, this was planned as a lip synch moment. And, by the
way, the director of that “Saturday Night Live” was the same director of
the Super Bowl halftime with Janet Jackson‘s malfunction. This is
a gifted person who should really direct the election results next week.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MUSTO: Because she tends to reveal interesting things, this director.
OLBERMANN: Yes. And this will be a lifetime achievement
award for six months worth of work after that span.
The one-and-only Michael Musto of “The Village Voice.”
(CROSSTALK)
MUSTO: I am going to do a jig out of here.
OLBERMANN: OK.
MUSTO: Oh, my God.
OLBERMANN: Thanks for your time.
MUSTO: Oh, my God.
OLBERMANN: That‘s COUNTDOWN. He‘s still doing that.