Robin Thicke walked off The Masked Singer’s US edition in protest after Rudy Giuliani was revealed as a contestant – and lots of people are having the same reaction.
Thicke and his fellow judge, the actor Ken Jeong, left the stage after the former New York city mayor and Donald Trump adviser was unmasked during the taping of a season seven episode last week.
Fox’s hit primetime series returns to television screens next month and the theme for this season is “The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly”.
Many commentators on Twitter have marvelled at the fact that “even” Thicke, the musician who was accused of trivialising sexual violence, objectifying women and “reinforcing rape myths” in his music video for “Blurred Lines”, took a moral stance against the controversial politician.
“lord when even robin thicke is doing the right thing…,” wrote one person.
“I am in an Upside Down where I actually applaud something Robin Thicke has done,” another posted.
“Imagine prompting Robin Thicke to disgust,” added a third.
Giuliani, who was years ago praised as “America’s Mayor” for his handling of 9/11, has now become a highly polarising figure for defending Trump’s claims that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen from him.
The Masked Singer previously drew similar backlash in 2020 after contentious Republican politician Sarah Palin was unveiled as “The Bear”.
The show, based on a popular South Korean reality TV series, features popular celebrities wearing over-sized costumes (called “Traffic Cone”, “Banana Split” or “Grandpa Monster”) while a panel of judges tries to guess which celebrity is behind the mask.
The latest season of the UK edition is currently underway and available to watch on ITV.
Giuliani recently came under fire for selling signed 9/11 T-shirts for $911 (£677) on the website of WABC Radio, where the 77-year-old politician regularly hosts a programme.
The description on the page of the autographed shirts states that “Rudy Giuliani will personally autograph the 9/11 T-shirt” and that a “portion of proceeds go to the WABC Radio Foundation, a 501c3 charity”.
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Twitter users criticised Giuliani over the “gross” T-shirts, with one writing: “I can’t believe [Giuliani] only became this awful after sustained contact with Trump.”
Giuliani is currently staring at mounting legal costs over representing Trump in their failed attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The Independent reported last year that Trump allegedly ordered aides not to pay Giuliani after he requested $20,000 (£14,750) a day for his work.