The 2020 Death Pool

[Lily]

I am tearful about Terry Jones, like a big knobber. Holy Grail & Brian saw me through some very hard times and I still adore watching them. A great age of comedy is gone. This is a beautiful little tribute to him. They're human aren't they - some nice, some less so.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51209197

"English eyes" has made me chuckle though.

[kiwi]

Michael Palin was in tears being interviewed earlier. :sad:

[ParisGal]

He has what my friend calls "English eyes" (like Paul McCartney).

This is so specific and accurate.

It's funny, isn't it. I'd never noticed before she said it, but it's definitely true.

[Lily]

Michael Palin was in tears being interviewed earlier. :sad:

I didn't see this, but I have seen several different interviews done by him; the poor sod must be wrung out!

To have had such an impact on so many people - not just as a comedian and a writer, but as a friend. Will anyone nowadays still be making people laugh 40/50 years after I began with the same stuff, over and over and over?

[Topcat]

Blimey, Kobe Bryant went down in a helicopter.

[Glint]

Kobe Bryant is reported to have died in a helicopter crash.

[Ella77]

Shit.

[rosy]

Gosh! It's on the BBC now, so it must be true.

[Estrella]

His 13 year old daughter was with him too (reportedly) :(

[Chicky]

Wasn’t he dodgy? Or is that someone else I’m thinking of?

[Livilla]

Woah. I'm not even a big US sports fan, and I know he's huge.

[Estrella]

He settled a sexual assault civil case out of court, Chicky, yes.

[Chicky]

Ah ok. That was it. Thanks Est.

Awful that his daughter was killed too :(

[Lily]

I had no idea who he is/was, but the crash sounds horrendous. Nine people killed.

[Edith Bacon]

I am genuinely baffled at the outpouring of love for an adulterous rapist. Obviously, the other lives lost in the accident are a great tragedy but that’s not where I’m seeing the focus of all the wailing. It appears that being good at sports trumps being a decent human being.

[Zoomer]

It always does, Edith.

[ParisGal]

Apparently it did damage him at the time (lost sponsors etc.) but it was settled in a civil court. Obviously I don't know all that much about American civil suits, but I would guess that she got a really good settlement as he also made a statement admitting that he "recognised" that she "did not feel" she had consented.

[Edith Bacon]

He showed the world who he was and it seems that the world shrugged its shoulders. He was a role model to millions of young people, all of whom have been shown that if you are good at sport and pay enough money you can hurt people with relative impunity. Just apologise and throw money at people - it’s all good.

[Livilla]

I find this a really interesting discussion, because I think it is very hard to think that the right headline on his death would have been "Kobe Bryant, once accused of sexual assault, killed in a crash". Clearly, he achieved a whole lot more in his life than that, and it would be wrong to think that that is the only thing that should matter to people. Particularly when none of us know the actual truth of what happened. The criminal case was dropped when the complainant refused to testify, and the civil case was settled (which does not necessarily indicate guilt) so there is no actual basis to call him a rapist. Adulterer yes, but he'd been married to his wife for 19 years and they had several children together so presumably they had moved on from this.

Loads of people lead far from perfect lives, this one among them. I didn't see too much wailing over David Bowie's sketchy sexual past when he died (from myself included), for comparison. Sportspeople, like musicians, mean a lot to their fans, and this obviously impacts the coverage.

[Edith Bacon]

I will just shut the fuck up then.