The surprise everyone knew was coming, has finally happened.
The moment millions waited for happened Wednesday night (April 20) when Jack in the Box was unmasked on The Masked Singer, revealing the disgraced former New York City major and President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Even the most casual of Masked Singer fans was aware that Giuliani was among the remaining contestants, news of which leaked during filming earlier this year.
It was the surprise everyone knew was coming, though no one knew how, or precisely when.
That moment finally arrived, and when it did, panelist Ken Jeong looked mighty unimpressed with his arms folded, before walking off, remarking “I’m done.”
Host Nick Cannon asked Giuliani why he put his hand up to participate in the Fox series. “It surprises us all that you’re here,” Cannon commented, truly speaking on behalf of everyone.
“I guess the main reason is, I just had a granddaughter, Grace, and I want her to know that you should try everything, even things that are completely unlike you and unlikely,” Giuliani said. “And I couldn’t think of anything more unlike me and unlikely than this. And I enjoy the show. I have for years. And it just seemed like it’d be fun. I don’t get to have a lot of fun.”
For the record, Giuliani was sent home after a flat performance of “Bad to the Bone” by Joe Thorogood and the Destroyers.
While Jeong’s mood soured when the helmet came off, fellow judges Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg and Nicole Scherzinger appeared happy to chat with Giuliani.
While the popular prime time singing contest has typically trafficked in non-controversial contestants from the worlds of music, sports and the screen, it’s previous dip into political theater — a March 2020 appearance by failed Republican vice presidential candidate and reality TV star Sarah Palin and a separate — elicited some criticism. Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s appearance on Dancing With the Stars in 2019 also came in for a social media thumping.
The decision to welcome Giuliani into the fold, a controversial figure who has been from practicing law in New York after making “false and misleading” to the public and courts during and after the 2020 presidential election, is setting social media alight. Much of it for the wrong reasons.
“He should be in prison, but Rudy Giuliani is on The Masked Singer right now,” reads one tweet, from the user Parker Malloy.
With Giuliani the latest celebrity sent home from The Masked Singer, he joins Duane Chapman (Armadillo), Jennifer Holliday (Miss Teddy), Penn and Teller (Hydra), Christie Brinkley (Lemur), Jorge Garcia (Cyclops), Jordan Mailata (Thingamabob), Duff Goldman (McTerrier) and Joe Buck (Ram) on the outside.