What is the Deal with Caryn Elaine Johnson?
By Jan A. Larson
You may not be asking, "What is the deal with Caryn Elaine Johnson?"
but instead, "Who in the heck is Caryn Elaine Johnson?" Caryn
Elaine Johnson, of course, is the birth name of comedienne Whoopi
Goldberg.
Goldberg was given the nickname "Whoopi" as
a result of her excessive flatulence. Last week she lived up to that
nickname with an exhibition of excessive flatulence of the mouth at
a Democratic fund-raiser in New York. As a result, she was canned as
a spokesperson for Slim-Fast.
Some are being critical of Slim-Fast for taking a step that is somehow
an affront to Goldberg's right to free speech. Nothing could be further
from the truth.
The Constitution provides a guarantee that the government will pass
no law that restricts the freedom of speech. This situation has nothing
to do with government or the law so any discussion of free speech is
not germane.
When a person takes money from a business owner or company to represent
that business as a spokesperson, there is an understanding, either explicit
or implied, that the person will conduct him or herself in a way that
will reflect positively on the company's standards, ideals and philosophy.
When a spokesperson says or does something that could be deemed offensive
or in some way not consistent with the company's standards, ideals and
philosophy, the company has every right to choose to terminate the relationship.
Depending on the nature of the endorsement contract, the spokesperson
may or may not be entitled to receive ongoing payments or a termination
payment. In this case, reports indicate that Goldberg will lose approximately
$1 million.
There are really two issues at play in this situation. The first is
the hypocrisy of Slim-Fast and the second is the apparent shock and
surprise expressed by Goldberg that she would be held accountable for
her remarks.
There can be no doubt that Slim-Fast knew that Goldberg was politically
active and has never been known to hold back in the exercise of her
freedom of speech. Given that Goldberg's performance has not been released
to the public, one could assert that Slim-Fast is taking a knee-jerk
reaction and bowing to (apparent) public pressure to dump her. (As to
why the Kerry-Edwards campaign has not chosen to release a tape of the
fund-
raiser after Kerry commented that the performances conveyed the "heart
and soul of the country" is the subject for another column.)
On the other hand, people that line their pockets with thousands or
millions of corporate endorsement dollars must realize that those dollars
don't come without some expectations of behavior. When the behavior
becomes outrageous, or at least far enough outside the bounds of acceptability
for the majority of a company's stakeholders, no one should be surprised
when their services are no longer deemed necessary.
As for Goldberg, while I don't particularly care for her humor and
I definitely don't care for her politics, I suspect she'll do just fine.
Although losing a million dollars might be a blow for those of us that
do not represent the heart and soul of the country, I'm pretty sure
her Hollywood friends will help her get through these tough times. Maybe
they'll even have a fund-raiser for Whoopi.
