Hank Williams Jr. In Hot Water; MNF Anthem Pulled After Obama-Hitler Remarks
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- Are you ready for some... wait, what?
Hank Williams Jr.'s classic Monday Night Football anthem was nowhere to be heard yesterday after the country singer famous for the line "Are you ready for some football?" used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack Obama.
In an interview Monday morning on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," Williams, unprompted, said of Obama's golf outing with House Speaker John Boehner: "It'd be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu."
Co-host Brian Kilmeade told Williams he didn't understand the analogy.
"Well, I'm glad you don't, brother," Williams responded. "Because a lot of people do. They're the enemy."
Asked to clarify who he meant by "the enemy," Williams said, "Obama! Biden!"
Anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, "You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is."
Because of his comments, Williams' iconic song was pulled last night's Monday Night Football telecast.
The singer released a statement through his publicist, saying: "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme - but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me - how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the president."
ESPN did not say whether the intro, which made its debut in 1989, would be used again after this week's Colts-Buccaneers game.
"Every time the media brings up the tea party it's painted as racist and extremists - but there's never a backlash - no outrage to those comparisons," Williams' statement continued. "Working-class people are hurting - and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job - it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change."
Instead of Williams' music video, viewers just saw clips of both teams and heard a voice-over about the matchup.
The song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" is a remixed version of his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight." The version won Williams four Emmy Awards in the early 1990s as the opening theme to "Monday Night Football," then on ABC.
Your thoughts on Williams' comments? Should his Monday Night Football anthem ever be heard again? Sound off in the comments below...
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