Update: Melissa McCarthy Responds to Rex Reed's Scathing "Identity Thief" Review

[JamesG]

Film Critic Rex Reed Calls Melissa McCarthy "Hippo" and "Tractor-Sized", Faces Angry Backlash
2/8/2013
by Jordan Zakarin


New York Observer critic Rex Reed's scathing takedown of the new comedy Identity Thief is earning him some livid reviews.

That Reed disliked the movie, calling it "dreck" and a "chunk of junk" is hardly controversial; the film largely has been panned, earning a 26 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.



Reed, instead, is taking heat for his shots at star Melissa McCarthy's weight, which he repeatedly ripped in stark, derisive terms.

In three paragraphs, Reed manages to shred the Oscar-nominated actress for her weight four times, calling her "tractor-sized," a "screeching, humongous creep" and a "female hippo."

He dismisses her career as a study in "being obese and obnoxious with equal success."



The blowback came almost immediately, in the comments section of the review itself.

One commenter swore off ever reading the Observer again, while another accused Reed of perpetuating a double standard because "if Ms. McCarthy was a man, you wouldn't even think of calling her fat because you'd get your old ass kicked in a minute."

Others agreed, saying that Reed wouldn't say negative things about the weight of actors such as Jonah Hill or John Goodman. Yet another said of Reed that "he's pushing 80 and will be dead soon. Enjoy your remaining years, *******!"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...carthys-419782

[catlover79]

Rex Reed is still around??

Good for him for getting backlash. Melissa McCarthy is a beautiful lady, a good actress, and seems to be a sweet person from what I've seen of her in interviews and such.

Horrible.

[shotzette]

Rex Reed is a tool and always has been.

If the movie is crap; fine, it's open season for wisecracks. However, focusing on someone's physical appearance; which doesn't factor into the movie at all, makes him look like a chump.

I have no desire to see this movie, but I might now.

[JamesG]

Rex Reed Defends Melissa McCarthy Remarks: "Don't Make Me the Villain"
2/13/2013
by Seth Abramovitch


Rex Reed has two words to describe Identity Thief star Melissa McCarthy: "completely classy."

That magnanimous assessment stands in stark contrast to the New York Observer film critic's mean-spirited pan of McCarthy's new comedy, in which he called the actress "tractor-sized" and a "female hippo," among other insults.





In his first time speaking out on the incident, Reed refused to back down from his choice of words, but said McCarthy "has remained completely silent [on the controversy], and I think that's completely classy."

Talking on Monday to WOR, a New York-based AM radio station, Reed theorized that the outrage was actually orchestrated by "the big publicity machine called Universal Pictures" who mobilized people to attack him in their "desire to sell tickets to a bad movie."

Reed took credit, too, for Identity Thief's stellar opening weekend take of $36.6 million, saying the controversy was "what sold the tickets."





Addressing the name-calling, Reed told host Mark Simone:

"I object to using health issues like obesity as comedy talking points. That’s what this girl does. I have too many friends that have died of obesity-related illnesses, heart problems and diabetes...I have helped people try to lose weight, and I don't find this to be the subject of a lot of humor."





Responding directly to his critics, of which there are many Reed responded, "Don't make me a villain. She is crying all the way to the bank!".

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...ccarthy-421352

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by shotzette

Rex Reed is a tool and always has been.

If the movie is crap; fine, it's open season for wisecracks. However, focusing on someone's physical appearance; which doesn't factor into the movie at all, makes him look like a chump.

I have no desire to see this movie, but I might now.

Exactly! He's an absolute tool. And IMO he's aged like sh**, so he's no Prince Charming either; the LAST person who should be insulting an able actress over looks.

He really needs to take a ride on the clue train, and realize how ridiculous he's made himself look. He's nothing but a tired tacky has been--you can have him.

[comedyfreak]

I don't listen to the movie critics in fact, I despise them. Melissa is a beautiful woman who knows comedy. I'm glad the movie is doing so well I hope to see it soon.

[JamesG]

Melissa McCarthy Responds (Finally) To That Ugly Rex Reed Review
by THE DEADLINE TEAM
Thursday June 13, 2013


When Melissa McCarthy didn’t lash back after New York Observer film critic Rex Reed’s out-of-bounds review of Identity Thief back in February — in which out of the blue and most cruelly he called the actress “tractor-sized” and “a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success” — Deadline’s Mike Fleming did.

(So did her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, who ended a Twitter post on the matter thusly: “I cordially invite Mr. Rex Reed to go **** himself.”)



McCarthy, the most on-fire female comedic actor going right now (she just booked another biggie today, the DreamWorks Animation pic B.O.O. opposite Seth Rogen), finally broke her silence on the topic.

It came today in a NY Times interview tied to her Fox movie The Heat, co-starring Sandra Bullock, which opens June 28.

When Ms. McCarthy was asked about the review over lunch in April, her characteristically cheerful tone evaporated. In a softer voice, she said her initial reaction to reading it had been “Really?” and then, she said, “Why would someone O.K. that?”

Without mentioning the name of its author, Ms. McCarthy said: “I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate. I just thought, that’s someone who’s in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs.”



Had this occurred when she was 20, Ms. McCarthy said, “it may have crushed me.” But now, as a mother raising two young daughters in “a strange epidemic of body image and body dysmorphia,” she said articles like that “just add to all those younger girls, that are not in a place in their life where they can say, ‘That doesn’t reflect on me.’”

“That makes it more true,” she said. “It means you don’t actually look good enough.”

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/meli...view-response/