Jeremy Piven is surely a douche of the highest order, but I do believe that he had mercury poisoning and that’s why he had to withdraw from his play, Speed The Plow, last December. (He was sued for it, but the arbitrator ruled in his favor last month and determined that he didn’t violate his contract.)
Mercury poisoning just doesn’t seem like something you would make up. Piven also seemed sincere to me in his appearance explaining the incident on Letterman. He went on at length about his medical problems and you could tell that he really went through all that. He still came across as an arrogant dick, sure, but I do think that he was seriously ill.
Piven isn’t taking kindly to a small show performed at Joe’s Pub in NY City in which he’s being mocked over the mercury debacle. From the description on the Joe’s Pub website, it sounds like the show, The Piven Monologues, consists of people reading some of the skeptical reactions in the press to Piven’s mercury poisoning. The guy is a supreme dick and you can really understand why people don’t buy his side of the story and why he’s become such a target. Piven can’t stand it, though, and had his lawyer send out a cease and desist:
SELF-proclaimed sushi sufferer Jeremy Piven has slapped the Public Theater with a “cease and desist” letter over “The Piven Monologues,” a comic look at the star’s case of mercury poisoning and subsequent pullout from Broadway’s “Speed-the-Plow.” The show was staged last night and another performance is set for next month. Says Piven attorney Marty Singer, “We didn’t say you cannot do the play, we said you can’t make defamatory statements about our client.” An arbitrator ruled last month that Piven did not break his contract when he bailed. A theater rep declined to comment.
[From The NY Post]
Apparently The Public Theater owns Joe’s Pub and that’s why they’re the target of the lawsuit. (Crazy Days and Nights has more on that.)
This isn’t the first time that Piven has found jokes about his condition unfunny – he is said to have screamed at Chris Kattan last month for cracking wise about it.
The truth expert at Eyes for Lies often explains that anger is a natural response to being accused unfairly, and I think that Piven is offended because he went through the roughest time of his life and is being mocked for it. He’s not helping his already ruined image by getting so worked up and defensive, though. There’s a very good reason why people are so reluctant to believe him.
Here’s Jeremy Piven competing in the Malibu Triathlon this weekend. What a stud. Credit: Fame Pictures
why does this little twerp have no sense of humor about himself? he is the butt of so many jokes, I dont see how he has time to sue everyone. little leprechaun, dont be angry!
I kinda agree with Piven. I’d be ticked off too and’d want to halt an actual commercial production.
The mockery of his illness goes a little further in that it potentially damages his chances of getting work -as it (the mockery) portrays him as a cheat or a slacker, a liar nonetheless.
And, like the writer of this article says, it’s insult to injury given the illness he had endured.
To joke about it is one thing (acceptable) (Kattan), but to base an actual show on it, using his name, is another (unacceptable).
…. my name is Alan -and I approved this opinion. (*winks at Lois*)
I don’t think they are defaming him. They are reading statements other people wrote about him, if I understand it correctly. So shouldn’t he be suing the journalists that wrote the statements instead of the people reading them?
Satire is protected by the First Amendment. You’d think Piven would know that, what with his entire life basically being a joke.
bros, you are dead on – he is a little twerp. If he really was sick, that sucks. If people didn’t believe him and made fun of him, that sucks too. But by throwing a hissy fit every time someone says something about him, people are only going to make fun of him MORE. He needs to have a sense of a humor, be grateful he recovered and wasn’t liable, and get over this ridiculous ego that he has. But instead he’ll remain a jerk, I’m sure.
RobN – LOL, totally agree with you there. Maybe if Piven were a nicer guy and less of a skeezeball I’d feel a little bad for him.
I don’t get the hate for Piven even if he is a douche and what has he done really except hit on girls too young for him – it’s not like he’s the only actor who does.
I totally agree with popcorny. Being falsely accused and being considered a liar is one of the worse feelings in the world. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.