ShopNBC Fires Jim Skelton!

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• published: 23 Apr 2011
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This has been coming for a long time. Skelton's dismissal stems from his lack of tact on the air, and what appears to be a self destructive element in his personal behavior. Skelton has a knack for offending folks. Some of those folks can hit back. I can point to one incident in particular which pretty much sealed his fate on ShopNBC. It was the time he and Jill Somerstein were co hosting a show. Jim went off track as usual and asked Jill if she ever planned to get married, settle down and have some kids. Anyone could see she was uncomfortable with his banter, but Jill's a trooper and a business person. She went along and told him she would some day. He then suggested she might have twins named Chaos (?) and Holocost. His jest was obviously embarressing and very offensive to her. The broadcast went dead for a few seconds, and when it came back on, Jill looked like she was close to tears. Skelton realized he'd crossed a line and apologized on air, but the damage was done and it was obviously permenant. The ShopNBC call center was swamped w/ angry calls. Retractions and disclaimers were quietly made. Skelton then proceeded to try to stifle any objections on Watchgeeks in his usual pompous, high handed manner. The next time Eyal Lalo and Skelton appeared together, it was apparent the relationship had cooled. The usual friendly familiar raporte between them was gone. Eyal was far more reserved and even a bit standoffish. Obviously, a lot of key players in the watch and jewelry business have strong ties to the Jewish community. These folks won't tolerate this kind of anti-semitism inadvertant or not nor should they. They also have long memories. Skelton has burned a very important bridge with his careless, callous mouth and his self destructive personality. I doubt he'll ever be successful in the industry now. It's his own fault, and consideering the way he did it, I just can't muster up any sympathy for him. Some folks just don't belong on national TV. he's one of them. Credits = silent sam