If we were John Kerry, we’d want to make sure that no one in the audience has any tomatoes. But the haughty, vaguely French-looking Massachusetts Democrat is more concerned that there are no tomatoes backstage when he speaks. Well, at least he’s not specifying no brown M&Ms.
Yahoo.com has the demanding details:
Musicians aren’t the only ones with demands. Even politicians, like former presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry, have them. But while Kerry’s rider outlines specific dishes like “Szechwan string beans” as must-haves, perhaps more interesting is what he omits. “NEVER order: Tomato based products OR sandwiches,” Kerry’s rider explicitly said, which is made all the more humorous by the fact that his wife became wealthy from the $550 million she took away from her first marriage to the heir to the Heinz fortune.
“Yes, lovey, the Szechwan string beans are fabulous tonight. This is precisely how I had Bao Mihn prepare them when I was in Vietnam. Have I ever mentioned that I served in Vietnam?”
Source: Yahoo.com
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021
View Comments (15)
I can understand the tomato thing. Tomatos probably make him feel guilty, since he's living off the Heinz fortune... Hey, anything in the contract about no Purple Hearts backstage?
ooohh. THAT'S GOOD. ;)
Uhm... the subconcious perhaps is disgusted that his wife is pretty much supporting him? Hates the look of the gigolo that looks back at him in the mirror...? Who knows?
Kerry has an ego and sense of entitlement as big as any rock star. He just has much less talent.
What's sad is that he a completely blind to your point, & if he does know, he does'nt care. He's got his, even it is because of someone else.
As much as I dislike that pompous ass kerry, allah bbq is right about the contracts, they must be read in entirety for security purposes. I like the description of kerry as haughty and slightly french looking. One of the things that made me really dislike that ass was when he was before congress or the senate in his uniform calling his fellow soldiers barbarians and murderers. And his pronunciation of Gengis Khan really did it for me, he said it sounding like a gay British liberal proffesor.
"And his pronunciation of Gengis Khan really did it for me, he said it sounding like a gay British liberal proffesor."
Yep, that would be the snooty Boston Brahmin 'dialect' comin' at ya! Can't stand it, either.
Somehow the accent sounded better coming from Thurston Howell III.
Puh-leeze. That's should be a gay, French-looking British liberal professor.
Not that there's anything WRONG with that.
His contract should have a clause into for all the audience to have a pillow and a blanket. He can put the dead to sleep.
We need a constitutional amendment separating state and Hollywood.
let's look at the whole picture here. These performer contracts are quite long, complex, and frankly, will bore you to death. However, they contain critical items that relate to security, payments, standards, all kinds of things are spelled out in excruciating minutia. When we hear about Van Halen demanding that NO RED M&M's be found backstage, this is known as a "reverse easter egg". If red M&M's ARE found backstage, it means the contract, and attached riders, have not been READ thoroughly and completely. If they missed the M&M thing, WHAT ELSE have they missed?? Will they be short on security? Will they not be assured of twin beds in the staff hotel rooms, because they are NOT a "couple"?? Will the lighting be of a color that makes that particular performer appear washed out? No tomato-based foods backstage may not guarantee complete compliance with all four hundred and thirty seven of the OTHER stipulated items, but FINDING tomatoes backstage will certainly put the event staff on high alert for other, truly important issues to be overlooked.
While I'm NO fan of Kerry, this sort of rider is standard in the industry.
What a croc of Obama. That's the point man's job, or the roadies, etc. Red M&Ms and other such requirements are nothing more that ego. It's only a "standard" because society has turned these people into gods, and follow them like sheep. Baaaa
Mistella, I agree with you, but you are missing the point. Who do you think "the point man", or "the roadies" are, anyway? And how do you s'pose "they" accomplish that? Take it from someone that has worked for the world's wealthiest, and two "A" list Holly-weird-o's. I haven't come across O.N.E. truly outrageous demand--those that are the least bit unusual are, inevitably, easter eggs. And I've come across (and been a party to WRITING) a dozen or more of 'em. It's just a simple device. Kinda like mapmakers that have a very clever method of proving copyright violations--they'll place tiny little cul-de-sacs where there are none. If they get duplicated by another (competing) map company, "Gotcha!"
Yeah, and when I was a local truck driver in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in CA years ago, I managed to find every one of the mistakes in the Thomas Brothers Guides. A little frustrating when the map shows the road going through, and you find yourself in a cul-de-sac driving a semi-truck.