Tacoma News Tribune Article

You won't catch Clay Aiken sending critics hate mail
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: November 4th, 2005 03:00 AM

Believe it or not, I get my share of hate mail and calls from vexed readers.
Sure, many of you actually kinda like me. You can admit it; some of you even say as much when you run into me at Hell's Kitchen or The Showbox - right before you tell me that I look 15 in the cheesy mug shot that accompanies this column. But every once in a while the haters come pouring out of the woodwork, ready to pitch me a verbal beat down.

I've had Toby Keith fans accuse me of being part of the so-called liberal media conspiracy. Eminem fans have bashed me on the basis of my presumed sexual orientation. And one rabid Slipknot fan offered to castrate me, an offer I will graciously decline until my health plan ceases covering vasectomies.

But few fan bases have been so enthusiastic in letting me know how lame I am than - drum roll, please - Clay Aiken fans.

Yes, Clay Aiken fans! You know, the spiky-haired guy who finished second on the second season of "American Idol," and who will also headline a holiday show Sunday at Seattle's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.

A paragraph from a review I wrote about a Kiss-FM holiday show that Aiken appeared in a couple of years back generated no less than 400 bits of hate mail -most, thankfully, of the easily deleted electronic variety.

I brought this up first thing when I got Aiken on the phone recently.

"Uh oh," he replied, with a nervous giggle.

"And I didn't really bash you," I explained.

"Oh, don't clean it up now," he insisted.

"Honestly, I don't think it was that bad," I said. (For the record, I called him a "tease" for singing just a couple of songs at the Kiss show; hardly anything that would live up to "Idol" curmudgeon Simon Cowell.) "But apparently, you had bronchitis."

This prompted Aiken to rattle off his Puget Sound war stories. "Oh gosh! Now you've got me all scared," he said. "The first time I went to Seattle I had an allergic reaction. I'm allergic to nuts. I haven't had a reaction in years, but I actually had one in Seattle."

Besides the Kiss incident, Aiken said he also severely twisted his ankle backstage when he came back with Kelly Clarkson.

"I guess there are some fans in Seattle who think I'll never come back because I have such bad luck," he said. "Just the second-largest number of hate mails? So what was the first?"

A response to a Toby Keith review, I explained.

"My manager also manages in the country arena, and we're all too familiar with him," he said, laughing. "I would like to hope our fans are at least a little bit nicer. But I've heard they can be a bit vehement when they're not happy with a reporter. Hope they didn't hurt you too bad."

Nah. Honestly, hate mail is kind of fun, especially when it's either well-done or really bizarre.

But while that was all good and well, what I really wanted to know was how he felt about the people who were really mean to him – namely the likes of Conan O'Brien, "Mad TV," "Saturday Night Live" and others who have made Aiken the subject of gay jokes since he graduated from "Idol."

"A lot of times I don't find out about these things unless I read them online," Aiken said. "I guess there's a compliment hidden deep within there. If they weren't talkin' about me, I guess it would be worse, wouldn't it? At least when people say mean things they're admitting we're important enough to mention."
Ah, what a wimp. I mean, couldn't he have at least challenged Conan O'Brien to fight on "Celebrity Boxing" or something?

Uh, whoops. Claymates can address their next round of hate mail and calls to ...

Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389

ernest.jasmin@thenewstribune.com