Toronto reacts to Conrad Black’s softball interview with Mayor Rob Ford
It’s amazing, in a way, that Conrad Black and mayor Rob Ford hadn’t found themselves on camera together before last night. They have so much to talk about: treatment by various justice systems, being portrayed as cartoonish villains in the media, the ins and outs of maintaining a towering ego despite frequent humiliations, and so on.
There was some of that in Monday night’s interview with Ford on Black’s TV talk show, The Zoomer, but ultimately the segment was disappointing. Black lobbed softballs, which Ford batted away with stock responses. That’s not to say the interview didn’t manage to have disastrous moments for the mayor. Ford falsely implied that Star reporter Daniel Dale is a pedophile, possibly exposing himself to yet another lawsuit.
Here’s what people are saying about the whole weird mess, the video of which has curiously been removed from The Zoomer‘s website.
“Just when it looked as if he couldn’t sink any lower, Mayor Rob Ford did something truly vile.”
—The Globe’s Marcus Gee, who rightly points out that Ford’s story about Daniel Dale lurking in his backyard and taking pervy pictures of his kids is an incredible falsehood, even by Ford’s already-incredible standards. On the day in question, Dale was in a park adjacent to the mayor’s home, researching the mayor’s attempt to buy a parcel of public land.
“ROB FORD THAT IS NOT TRUE.”
—Star reporter Robyn Doolittle, reacting in all caps to Ford’s comments about Dale.
“Mr. Ford calling reporter Daniel Dale a pedophile tells you all you need to know about our mayor’s brain.”
—Star editor Michael Cooke, to the Canadian Press. If the Star sues Ford for defamation (and it may), the irony will be almost too much to bear. Ford tried to do the same thing to the Star once upon a time, but allowed the suit to lapse.
“Thanks for your kind words, everyone! Never again will I go to sleep before a Conrad Black interview with Rob Ford.”
—Daniel Dale (@ddale8 on December 10, 2013), responding to supportive tweets that came his way after the interview.
“Natural next step is for a prime time television event where Ford is interviewed by the Hamburglar.”
—Metro’s Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt on December 10, 2013), tweeting about other convicted felons that might be interested in a sit-down with the mayor
Oh, except it kind of happened already.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/conrad-black-rob-ford-interview-zoomer/&title=Toronto reacts to Conrad Black’s softball interview with Mayor Rob Ford&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ford-black-interview-zoomer-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_250401" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Images: Ford: Christopher Drost; Black: Canadian Film Centre)[/caption]
It's amazing, in a way, that Conrad Black and mayor Rob Ford hadn't found themselves on camera together before last night. They have so much to talk about: treatment by various justice systems, being portrayed as cartoonish villains in the media, the ins and outs of maintaining a towering ego despite frequent humiliations, and so on.
There was some of that in Monday night’s interview with Ford on Black's TV talk show, The Zoomer, but ultimately the segment was disappointing. Black lobbed softballs, which Ford batted away with stock responses. That’s not to say the interview didn't manage to have disastrous moments for the mayor. Ford falsely implied that Star reporter Daniel Dale is a pedophile, possibly exposing himself to yet another lawsuit.
Here’s what people are saying about the whole weird mess, the video of which has curiously been removed from The Zoomer's website.
"Just when it looked as if he couldn’t sink any lower, Mayor Rob Ford did something truly vile."
—The Globe’s Marcus Gee, who rightly points out that Ford's story about Daniel Dale lurking in his backyard and taking pervy pictures of his kids is an incredible falsehood, even by Ford’s already-incredible standards. On the day in question, Dale was in a park adjacent to the mayor's home, researching the mayor's attempt to buy a parcel of public land.
"ROB FORD THAT IS NOT TRUE."
—Star reporter Robyn Doolittle, reacting in all caps to Ford's comments about Dale.
"Mr. Ford calling reporter Daniel Dale a pedophile tells you all you need to know about our mayor’s brain."
—Star editor Michael Cooke, to the Canadian Press. If the Star sues Ford for defamation (and it may), the irony will be almost too much to bear. Ford tried to do the same thing to the Star once upon a time, but allowed the suit to lapse.
"Thanks for your kind words, everyone! Never again will I go to sleep before a Conrad Black interview with Rob Ford."
—Daniel Dale (@ddale8 on December 10, 2013), responding to supportive tweets that came his way after the interview.
"Natural next step is for a prime time television event where Ford is interviewed by the Hamburglar."
—Metro’s Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt on December 10, 2013), tweeting about other convicted felons that might be interested in a sit-down with the mayor
Oh, except it kind of happened already.
[caption id="attachment_250398" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Rob Ford's Facebook page.)[/caption]){kind=link}
Ford needs to have his mouth permanently sealed, before he chokes to death on his own feet.
This buffoon is the MAYOR OF THE CITY! Incredible.
Rock star… Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison. We can only hope.
FORD MORE YEAR’S
you illiterate tit.
either is fine.
illitertit
How about both? ;)
I think that it’s supposed to be a pun but the apostrophe on the last word disabused me of such an elevated notion.
FordResigNation
One of Robbie’s staff has been dispatched to Chapters to collect an English dictionary. So he may attempt to understand what Conrad Black is saying during their meeting. You can’t make this shit up.
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And even Hamburglar looks ashamed to be shaking Rob Ford’s hand. What does that tell ya!
I was wonderin’. Is Daniel Dale married? Does he have children? If he is married, is he married to a woman? Has he ever kissed a woman? We now seem to know every detail of Ford’s life. Let’s find out something about the people accusing him. Who is this Dale? Has he been in jail? Just sayin’
Most people would think it a tad creepy to see some strange weasel hovering around their backyard at 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening.
yes, as someone who has lived adjacent to a public park I made it a regular practice of mine to physically threaten anyone in that park and to call them all catholic priests a year later
And I was wonderin’ how many times has my doctor gotten sick? Why hasn’t she asked me for my medical advice I wonder? Has she ever had testicular cancer? Just sayin’ (something unbelievably stupid).
The last time I saw that much smarm, Sally Field was accepting an Oscar.
Yes Rob, Conrad likes you. He REALLY likes you.
A convicted fraudster interviewing a crack-smoking liar. Now I’ve seen everything!
absolutely hilarious. Conrad Black & Rob Ford in a sit down. Are they starting a new club? (Upper Class people who get away with breaking all kinds of laws).
That club has long existed; the Ford brothers are just big bull(ies)s in that china shop now, and are bringing more attention to it.
If that happened I’d betcha his brother would take up ventriloquism.
And I was wonderin’, is Daniel Dale an elected public official in the public eyea and representin’ millions of citizens? Mayor of the 4th largest city in North America? Repeatedly caught lyin’ about illegal activity on national and international television?
Just sayin’ that your argument is specious and meanin’less