In early February, the news leaked that Rudy Giuliani would be one of the “celebrities” appearing on the newest season of The Masked Singer. If some Fox executives thought this kind of stunt casting would be a boon to the show’s ratings, heads are definitely rolling today. On Wednesday night, after several weeks of “Is this the night we’ll see Rudy?!” anticipation, the disgraced former New York City Mayor finally showed his face on the reality series… and it was a sadder spectacle than anyone likely anticipated.
If a gushing Jenny “Vaccines Cause Autism” McCarthy weren’t already enough to make viewers want to rethink every single one of their life choices, there was Rudy—a guy who was once named Time’s Person of the Year (in a good way)—looking like the world’s most pitiful Mardi Gras float. But the real kicker (aside from Nicole Scherzinger asking “Is that Robert Duvall?,” and her fellow judge Ken Jeong walking off the stage) is that nobody was even watching the damn thing.
We really have failed as a society. pic.twitter.com/vrvk66KWem
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) April 21, 2022
As The Daily Beast reports, the episode attracted just 3.6 million viewers—a season-low for the typically popular reality series. “The meager audience paled in comparison to that of timeslot competitors Survivor and Chicago Med,” Jordan Julian wrote. “Imagine portraying a guy who has actively tried to sabotage American democracy on multiple occasions as a silly, harmless old grandpa in a parrot costume, just to lose viewers to Dick Wolf’s least interesting franchise.”
On the plus side: At least we now know which Oscar-winning actor to call when Rudy’s life, including that time he married his cousin, is turned into a biopic.
(Via The Daily Beast)