November 21, 2012
Westboro Baptist Church Goes Late-Night
Robert Nesti READ TIME: 1 MIN.
In our age of instant celebrity, it was inevitable that members of the Westboro Baptist Church would get the star treatment. Well, not necessarily the star treatment, but the late-night-basic cable talk show freak guest treatment.
Such was the case when two particularly ornery members of that religious franchise joined Russell Brand on his FX chatfest last week.
Living up to their incendiary reputation, the pair - Steve Drain (wearing a PriestsRapeBoys.com T-shirt) and Timothy Phelps (looking like a grim specimen last seen in a truck stop restroom) - arrived with a laminated sign that read "FAG PIMP BRAND." No one applauded.
Russell attempted cordiality-masked-in-mockery, pointed out how un-Christian their views on gays are; but they wouldn't hear it, saying that theirs is a message of hate is one of love.
The screwy appearance culminated in the pair saying that Tom Hanks and Madonna will join Gandhi in hell. Brand also brought three gay men out to meet Drain and Phelps. Needless to say, there wasn't a chorus of "That's What Friends Are For."
Watch the clip below:
Robert Nesti can be reached at [email protected].
