LOS ANGELES — Jerry Lewis’ separation from the Muscular Dystrophy Association is not a laughing matter for some comedians.

Paul Rodriguez, Larry Miller, Tom Dreesen, Norm Crosby and others have joined in support of Lewis, the 85-year-old comedian who the MDA said is no longer its national chairman and will not appear on this year’s telethon. The Tucson, Ariz.-based association announced earlier this week that the organization was parting ways with him after 45 years.

“If this is the way we’re going, we should also tell grandpa we don’t need him for Thanksgiving,” joked Miller.

The funnymen told reporters gathered at The Laugh Factory comedy club Friday in Hollywood that they want the MDA to feature Lewis in some capacity on the upcoming telethon.

“He’s not dead,” said Rodriguez. “He’s very much alive.”

The comedians said they hadn’t spoken with Lewis since the separation was announced, but Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada said they supported Lewis “regardless of why he was dismissed.”

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Dreesen speculated that the MDA told Lewis that he would be phased out of the telethon, and the group was fearful of what Lewis would say during the six-hour broadcast.

“There’s no way they would give him the microphone for five minutes,” said Dreesen.

Judge: Anthony case ‘a legal morass’

ORLANDO, Fla. – Since her release from jail, Casey Anthony has been A) sipping iced coffee and shopping at an Old Navy store near the Ohio State campus, B) camped out in a Florida Panhandle beachfront rental home, C) running from a private jet in Orlando with her head covered by a jacket or D) none of the above.

While the whereabouts of the mom acquitted of killing her toddler last month have become a national parlor game, one thing is certain: She wasn’t in a Florida courtroom Friday when a judge heard arguments about whether she must return to Orlando to serve probation. Her lawyers have not disclosed where she is except to say she was out of state earlier this week.

Judge Belvin Perry will decide next week whether Anthony must return. Until then, her location is anyone’s guess.

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When Anthony was released in the overnight hours of July 17, an SUV whisked her and attorney Jose Baez to a parking garage of another defense attorneys’ office as television news helicopters followed. But the trail was lost as car after car left the garage with no sign of Anthony.

Reporters staked out local airports but no one saw Anthony leave.

This week, TMZ posted images on its website of a woman who resembles Anthony strolling down a street near Ohio State, sipping an iced coffee and picking through dresses at an Old Navy. The woman wore glasses and a bright red Ohio State ball cap, offending some ardent Buckeye fans already reeling from a cash-for-memorabilia scandal in the school’s football program.

A local disc jockey offered to pay Anthony, if it was indeed her, $10,000 if she would trade the cap for one from rival Michigan.

“Don’t disgrace Ohio State anymore,” pleaded Jimmy Jam in a video posted on the website for WNCI-FM. “We’ve been through enough this year.”

In Florida, Judge Perry described the Anthony case as a mess. He inherited the probation issue after Judge Stan Strickland recused himself earlier this week, most likely because of his comments during television interviews about the jury who acquitted Anthony.

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Strickland had sentenced Anthony in January 2010 to one year of probation after she pleaded guilty to stealing checks from a friend. He said Anthony should serve the probation upon her release, but those instructions never made it to a written order. Corrections officials interpreted the sentence to mean Anthony could serve the probation while she was in jail awaiting trial.

Strickland clarified in an order this week that Anthony needs to start serving probation now that she is out of jail.

Perry said he has to consider whether he has jurisdiction to correct “a scrivener’s error.”

“So far, I have not been able to find anything that has dealt with this particular situation … anywhere,” Perry said. “This is a legal morass. If anything could go wrong, it went wrong here.”

Anthony’s attorneys argued that Anthony already has served the probation in jail.

Woman claims rapper assaulted her at concert 

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NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Rapper Big Sean faces charges in upstate New York after a woman complained she was sexually assaulted during a concert.

State park police charged the 23-year-old Detroit rapper with misdemeanor counts of forcible touching, unlawful imprisonment and sex abuse. Another Detroit man, Willie Hansbro, faces the same charges.

Police received the complaint Thursday night at Artpark State Park in Lewiston, just downriver from Niagara Falls. Big Sean was performing there with rapper Wiz Khalifa.

Authorities won’t detail what happened.

Big Sean and Hansbro were issued appearance tickets and released on $500 bail. They’re scheduled in Niagara County Court on Sept. 6.

Big Sean’s real name is Sean Anderson. Neither his press person nor his record company has responded to requests for comment made Friday.

 

 


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