Kid Rock was replaced with the “Waffle House hero” as grand marshal of Saturday’s annual Christmas parade in Nashville, Tennessee, amid an outcry prompted by the musician’s appearance on Fox News the previous morning.
Nashville Christmas Parade organizers booted the recording artist born Robert Richie from the parade Friday evening after he made a crude comment about television personality Joy Behar during a live broadcast of “Fox & Friends” hours earlier.
“People need to calm down [and] get a little less politically correct,” he said during the broadcast. “I would say, ’love everybody,’ except I’d say, ’screw that Joy Behar [expletive].’”
Politicians including Nashville Mayor David Briley subsequently threatened to skip the parade unless Rock was pulled, and organizers eventually named a replacement with less than 24 hours until the start of the event.
“Parade organizers feel that the grand marshal should personify the spirit of the Nashville community,” organizers said in a statement Friday evening naming Rock’s replacement: James Shaw Jr., a local man lauded for disarming a gunman suspected of killing four at an area Waffle House restaurant in April.
Rock said Saturday that he skipped the parade, and The Tennessean newspaper reported that Mr. Shaw rode in the grand marshals’ horse-drawn carriage alongside relatives of Akilah Dasilva, a musician among the four people killed in the Waffle House shooting.
“It warms the heart to be here with the Dasilva family,” said Mr. Shaw, The Tennessean reported.
A supporter of President Trump, Rock defended his comment about Ms. Behar, a co-host of “The View,” citing her response to him visiting the White House last year with fellow right-wing musician Ted Nugent and Republican politician Sarah Palin.
“Behar called it ’the saddest day in in the history of the White House since the British burned it to the ground in 1814.’ Today I said ’Screw that Joy Behar [expletive].’ Mess with the bull, you get the horns. End of story. I apologized for cursing on live TV, I will not for my sentiment nor do I expect an apology from her or anyone else who has choice words for me or doesn’t like me. God Bless America,” Rock wrote on Facebook late Friday.
“I love Nashville and the people she holds,” he added after being replaced. “But remember…Rock n Roll Never Forgets!!”
Ms. Behar, on her part, responded to Rock’s insult by inviting him onto “The View.”
“What is it about me that he feels the need to say that though? Who am I? I’m just a comedian on a show. Why doesn’t he go after the big shots?” she added.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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