I’ll admit it: I cracked jokes behind the late Anna Nicole Smith’s back. I teased Britney Spears earlier on in the K-Fed epidemic and I smirked at the expression of Tom Cruise “jumping the couch.”
Seeing and hearing a barrage of insults aimed at celebrities undergoing their most vulnerable moments to date, I wonder if these jokes go too far and, if they do, when is the best time not to make them?
One guess I could muster would be when a certain celebrity’s funeral rights are being debated. Another would be when some younger celebrity shaved her head and revealed to the world that not only is she no longer that innocent, but she also may need some help. As for an example pertaining to Tom Cruise without being a witty prick, I’ll just call it a mission of impossible proportions not to make fun of him.
Dimwitted critics of Anna Nicole Smith have referred to her as tasteless insults ranging from being a manatee to being a pill-popper. More original insults have been fired at the media icon, and for far less amounts of desperate shock value.
Now is not the time to drone about how trivial or irrelevant her death is because, ultimately, she too was a human being (one who most of us didn’t know at all).
Sadly, the same applies to the other celebrities we spend each day obsessing over or despising. A true respect for the dead would imply some genuine respect.
I am not saying that you should feel guilty for laughing when Ashlee Simpson made an ass of herself on SNL. By all means, wear out that hoedown impersonation. I just believe – going with the theory that celebrities still breathe the same air as we do – if a celebrity is going through a hard time in his or her life (or death), it would be nice of us to take a break and poke some fun at those unfortunate few who still have a place on Hollywood Squares instead of those who are undergoing heartbreaking experiences including death.
Regardless of her being a “golddigger,” Anna Nicole Smith was someone’s mother. She was someone’s friend. She was – this is America, so I truly believe this – someone’s hero. At least wait until after the funeral if it is impossible to come up with some other attack on some other celebrity.
The “Late Late Show” host Craig Ferguson, for example, has stated that he won’t be making fun of Britney Spears’ new hairdo. “For me, comedy should have a certain amount of joy in it. It should be about attacking the powerful – the politicians, the Trumps, the blowhards – going after them. We shouldn’t be attacking the vulnerable.” He finishes saying that Britney “clearly needs help.”
It is refreshing to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way. In conclusion: if someone is dead or on the brink of committing suicide, whether social or actual, refrain from the witty quips … unless you want to talk about the return of ETSU football.

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