THE STORY IN A NUTSHELL
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS 1/2...EXAMPLES OF THE TOSS BAG THAT YER MAN STEPHEN IS...
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS 2/2...RULE CHANGES JUST MAKE THINGS WORSE...
CHECK HERE FOR MORE ON THE SUBSEQUENT HATE CAMPAIGN
In his now notorious appearance, Mr Fowler, who has taken American citizenship, hosted Gayla Long from rural Missouria for two weeks at his home in California's leafy Noe Valley district of San Francisco. He then proceeded to alienate large swathes of America, by first accusing her of being "undereducated and overweight", and then making comments such as: "Your two languages seem to be bad English and redneck". The viewer backlash against Mr Fowler, a venture capitalist who develops biofuels, has been overwhelming and often vicious. Despite claims that he was goaded into some of his comments, he has been derided as both "an elitist Brit" and a typically snobbish San Francisco liberal with disdain for ordinary Americans. Mr Fowler has now been forced to step down from the boards of two foundations and apologised on his wife's blog for behaving "like a complete jerk". The couple and their two children have even been the subject of threats after their phone numbers were published online. He is now regretting he ever heard of the show, as his Warholian 15-minute flirtation with fame has turned into three weeks – and counting – of infamy. The Facebook group I cannot stand Stephen Fowler (from Wife Swap) has hundreds of posts slamming his behaviour, often in unprintably crude terms that also take on virulent anti-British tones. His American wife Renee Stephens, a self-described "life coach" who says her goal is "to eradicate weight struggles from the planet", spent the fortnight with Mrs Long's husband, Alan, in Missouri, where she fared little better. She likewise faced accusations of haughtiness, firstly for her disdain for Mr Long's love of fast food, and then for stating that she had not chosen to be born American. Her husband appears to have made a bad impression from the start, having chosen to wear T-shirts bearing clichéd environmental slogans such as "Go Solar", "Tree Hugger" and "Sustainability". Even his wife has condemned his behaviour and urged him to seek professional help, although some cynics have suggested that she is trying to save her own business as weight loss "life coach" after he ridiculed his guest's physique. Mr Fowler's contractual commitments with the show's producers ban him from talking to the media. But a close family friend said that he was "devastated" by how the episode turned out. "Stephen really wants to make amends and make clear how sorry he is," the friend said. "He was strongly encouraged by the producers to play the snotty Brit and they really pushed him to be more confrontational. Because of the editing, you don't see any of the exchanges that pushed him to this. He felt his children were being abused and his reaction was over-the-top. "He has written to Gayla and her husband with his deepest apologies. But this is not the Stephen I have known for 15 years. He has the utmost respect for this country, for the US military, and did not mean to come across as unpatriotic. He knows he screwed up and wants to put that right."
No comments:
Post a Comment