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TN hospitality executive's e-mail compares
Michelle Obama to chimp
By Nate Rau and Nicole Young • THE TENNESSEAN • March 6, 2010
Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker's e-mail was sent to Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Toby Compton, Mayor Karl Dean's legislative liaison; in addition to public relations executives and members of the Nashville media. The story was first reported on a blog site for the Nashville Scene.
The e-mail compared Obama to Cheeta, the chimp sidekick in movies about Tarzan, a character based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' tales of an English lord raised by apes in an African jungle.
It opened with a quote attributed to comedian Larry the Cable Guy: "I don't care who you are, this is funny…" and ended with photos of the first lady and a chimpanzee.
Metro Councilman Walter Hunt said he began receiving calls from people who had received about the e-mail at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. He said they were upset because the statements contained in the message implied that they were racists.
"What he did was totally unacceptable," Hunt said.
"He offended so many by making a stupid mistake."
Hunt said he has asked Baker to make a public apology on Monday morning, but he's not sure if an apology will be enough.
Metro Councilman-at-large Jerry Maynard said Friday he was calling on the Convention and Visitors Bureau to suspend its contract with Baker's public relations firm Mercatus Communications. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is mostly funded with Metro dollars.
Baker's company also received almost $50,000 to market the new convention center and money that came indirectly from Metro to market the annual Music City Bowl.
Maynard said the message is intolerable.
"I am sorely disappointed that a person who is providing leadership for our hospitality industry, and the fact we're coming off defeating (the English-only referendum) and building a new convention center and
trying to say we're a welcoming city, would send this kind of e-mail out," he said.
"It's not an innocent mistake. It's not an innocent action."
Baker could not be reached for comment.
This isn't the first time a negative e-mail involving the Obamas has surfaced in Tennessee.
Last May, a state employee was disciplined after she sent out an e-mail depicting President Barack Obama as two cartoonish eyes on a black background. The image was the last in a collage containing the portraits of U.S. presidents.
Sherri Goforth, an administrative assistant to state Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, admitted to sending the e-mail "to the wrong list of people."
The state Democratic Party called for her dismissal after the e-mail was made public; she was not fired.
Michelle Obama to chimp
By Nate Rau and Nicole Young • THE TENNESSEAN • March 6, 2010
Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker's e-mail was sent to Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Toby Compton, Mayor Karl Dean's legislative liaison; in addition to public relations executives and members of the Nashville media. The story was first reported on a blog site for the Nashville Scene.
The e-mail compared Obama to Cheeta, the chimp sidekick in movies about Tarzan, a character based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' tales of an English lord raised by apes in an African jungle.
It opened with a quote attributed to comedian Larry the Cable Guy: "I don't care who you are, this is funny…" and ended with photos of the first lady and a chimpanzee.
Metro Councilman Walter Hunt said he began receiving calls from people who had received about the e-mail at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. He said they were upset because the statements contained in the message implied that they were racists.
"What he did was totally unacceptable," Hunt said.
"He offended so many by making a stupid mistake."
Hunt said he has asked Baker to make a public apology on Monday morning, but he's not sure if an apology will be enough.
Metro Councilman-at-large Jerry Maynard said Friday he was calling on the Convention and Visitors Bureau to suspend its contract with Baker's public relations firm Mercatus Communications. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is mostly funded with Metro dollars.
Baker's company also received almost $50,000 to market the new convention center and money that came indirectly from Metro to market the annual Music City Bowl.
Maynard said the message is intolerable.
"I am sorely disappointed that a person who is providing leadership for our hospitality industry, and the fact we're coming off defeating (the English-only referendum) and building a new convention center and
trying to say we're a welcoming city, would send this kind of e-mail out," he said.
"It's not an innocent mistake. It's not an innocent action."
Baker could not be reached for comment.
This isn't the first time a negative e-mail involving the Obamas has surfaced in Tennessee.
Last May, a state employee was disciplined after she sent out an e-mail depicting President Barack Obama as two cartoonish eyes on a black background. The image was the last in a collage containing the portraits of U.S. presidents.
Sherri Goforth, an administrative assistant to state Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, admitted to sending the e-mail "to the wrong list of people."
The state Democratic Party called for her dismissal after the e-mail was made public; she was not fired.