Actor Patrick "Puddy from Seinfeld" Warburton wants no part of O'Reilly Factor's "Patriot" game

Not so much a 'Patriot,' actor rejects praise from O'Reilly

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030404737.html



NO POLITICS: Bill O'Reilly praised Patrick Warburton for bucking the Hollywood liberal mindset over a line that referred to Sarah Palin, but Warburton says he just didn't like the joke. (Courtesy Fox News Channel)

By Lisa de Moraes
Friday, March 5, 2010

Actor Patrick Warburton says that Bill O'Reilly incorrectly stated he had come to the defense of Sarah Palin when Warburton expressed his discomfort with a Down syndrome joke on Fox's animated sitcom "Family Guy" and that he wants no part of "The O'Reilly Factor's" Patriot game.

"I wasn't defending Sarah Palin per se. She is an adult, a politician, and a public figure. She is subject to satire. She can handle herself," Warburton told The TV Column by e-mail Thursday.

"My objection was the depiction of a specific 1 year old special needs child who could not defend himself. In my opinion, that violates the artistic norms of satire."

Warburton's referring to the "Pinheads & Patriots" segment of O'Reilly's Fox News Channel program in which he puts people-in-the-news into one category or the other. On Monday, O'Reilly homed in on Warburton:

"Mr. Warburton has come to the defense of Sarah Palin," O'Reilly said.

"It's very unusual for any actor to go against the liberal Hollywood orthodoxy, so Mr. Warburton is a Patriot."