re: Have you or anyone you know actually cried over the death of a celebrity?

Shed a tear when I heard Alex T finally succumbed to his cancer.

I can’t believe you actually started this thread

Yes, Mother Teresa

About to be a bloodbath-

McCartney - 78
Jagger - 77
Keith Richards - 77
Clapton - 76
Gilmore - 75
Townshend - 75
Daltrey - 77
Fogerty - 75

quote:

---

Kobe is interesting to me because it might be the biggest case of revisionist history concerning a celeb. He wasn't wildly popular when he was playing. The Jordan fanboys weren't big on him because he was the heir apparent to MJ as the greatest player. His infidelity scandal didn't help his image at all. He came off as the villain in the Shaq/Kobe soap opera on the Lakers ("Kobe,tell me how's my arse taste?"). People accused him of throwing a tantrum in Game 7 against the Suns in 2006. His upbringing and demeanor didn't endear himself to the hip-hop crowd. Six months before he died if you'd have taken a poll of the most popular athletes or ex-athletes, I doubt he would have cracked the Top 20.

As soon as he died, people acted like Santa Claus had passed. Strange.

---

Couple thoughts about Kobe that made his death such a big deal:

A. He’s arguably the most beloved figure in the history of Los Angeles. Either him or Magic. Much of the media is based in Los Angeles, and they control the narrative.

B. His death was shocking, and the circumstances were especially tragic because he was with his daughter.

C. Kobe wasn’t as universally popular as Jordan or shaq, but everyone respected Kobe. Unlike LeBron.

D. All that said, most of the negative crap you mentioned about him was earlier in his career. To say he wasn’t wildly popular is an outright lie. He was one of the top 3 or 4 players in the league for most of his career. Shaq overshadowed the earlier stages of his career, and LeBron the latter; that’s it. You make it seem like he’s Steve Francis or something.

She didn't cry, but my mother said she had to go sit down when Elvis died.

I cried tears of joy when Bin Laden was killed.

Not really a celebrity, but when Henry Blake was killed on MASH, I might have shed a single tear.

Maybe close to crying but Regis Philbin. I grew up watching him as a little kid in New York before his show with Kathie Lee went national. It was like a grandfather passing away. He IMO was the greatest host on television.

My wife is a 90210 fanatical nut and she cried over Luke Perry dying.

quote:

---

I’ve never even been sad. I don’t know them so why would I be? I’ve gotten a weird feeling like “damn xyz celebrity is actually dead. That’s weird.” And that only comes with the unexpected ones like Kobe, etc. But never felt anything remotely close to sad about it.

---

Same for me. I’m a little hardened at this point and won’t cry for strangers. I didn’t cry when my grandmother died bc she was 90.