October 28, 2011

Philadelphia Inquirer | Former Fat Dudes
Facing deadline pressure, orthopedic surgeon and humor writer John D. Kelly IV collected 27 jokes about fat patients and put them in his monthly Outpatient Surgery Magazine column. Here are a few of them:

Be real concerned if:

-Your patient has more chins than a Chinese phonebook.
-Your patient has stretch marks on his teeth.
-Your patient has a dog named Twinkie.
-Your patient has more chins than a Chinese. (racial slurs too…they CAN’T be serious)
-Your patient has a daughter named Tostitos.

The doctor and part-time standup comic bombed with readers and his bosses at the University of Pennsylvania, who said in a statement that the “comments do not in any way reflect” the health system’s views.

Kelly’s apology tour included an interview with FormerFatDudes.com. “I have answered every email I received from this mistake,” he said. “I ask the readers to forgive me for this lapse of judgment. I see this as a positive for me and other ‘comics’ who are not aware of the potential harm they may inflict.”

His mea culpa hasn’t ended the controversy, though. Outpatient Surgery Magazine is threatening to sue blogger and gastric-bypass surgery patient “Diva Taunia” for posting part of Kelly’s column. “This page on your website needs to come down immediately or we will commence legal action next week,” warned editor-in-chief Dan O’Connor. At last check, the page was still up.

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From 1999 to 2011, Jim Romenesko maintained the Romenesko page for the Poynter Institute, a Florida-based non-profit school for journalists. Poynter hired him in August…
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