Another day…another blog post where I need to defend my fellow celiacs from the media whores who keep piling on.
Watch the video above (or here). This may be about as bad as I’ve seen.
And I didn’t want to do this today. I’m very cognizant of having too many “negative” posts in a row. Yesterday, I called out the CSA and Omission Beer so I was hoping for something a bit more uplifting today.
But I just couldn’t give Jimmy a free pass.
I’m not gonna spend a lot of time on this. The video speaks for itself.
I think Mr. Fallon can be brilliant at times. Anybody who gives me THIS is ok in my book. But not only is this “skit” simply not funny…I just don’t understand the point of it. Are they that desperate for material?
Why bring out a nerdy guy to represent those who are gluten-free?
Why say it’s not real?
Why put a pie in his face and then laugh about the consequences?
And don’t tell me because it’s a comedy show. You can poke fun at things while not debasing 1% of the population and misleading an entire audience of how ungodly important gluten-free is to us.
George Carlin would have had a friggin’ field day with the gluten free fad. He would have laid into the media and the B-list celebs promoting the diet. But he also would’ve educated at the same time. That’s what smart comedians do. Lenny Bruce. Richard Pryor. They made you think.
Heck…even Johnny Carson wouldn’t have sunk to this level.
When the Disney channel had an episode where people threw pancakes at a gluten-free kid, the celiac community erupted and we got them to pull the episode before it aired. That was such a sweet victory for us.
And now here we are six months later and Jimmy is saying gluten-free is complete BS and is smashing a blueberry pie in a celiac’s face. All in the name of comedy.
Except it ain’t funny.
Jimmy…why don’t you smash a peanut butter sandwich in a kid’s face who has a severe peanut allergy? What…that’s not funny? It would send the wrong message? Exactly.
One step forward…two steps back.
What. The. Fuck. It’s not even funny. Okay, some things I can laugh at, but there wasn’t any actual humor involved, just bullying and calling us liars. Seriously?!?
Exactly.
I’m with you on that one. Makes me glad I live in Australia and we are generally too lazy to do comedy like that lol
I don’t understand how that was funny. Apparently he doesn’t know anyone with celiac disease.
A. That wasn’t funny at all.
B. I don’t understand the point.
C. This just goes to show how damaging that article was last week (I assume this is why he is still hanging onto the notion that no one actually has a problem with gluten).
He obviously has some sort of problem with gluten. Maybe if he tried gluten free it might make his brain operate properly and show him what the gluten has done to him. I have customers who are ill within miutes of eating just small amounts of gluten. It would be nice to get him to appear on a serious show and pull him down a peg or two. Do we have the ability to flood his mail box with complaints and blast him all over the social media – make the moron suffer, cant be that hard to do. We need his private e-mail has anyone got it?
Dave
The security question to send this e-mail was what is 12 plus 2. I bet he would have had a problem with that.
Really? He’s making fun of that guy while wearing those dorky hipster glasses?
What an ass. Oh well. He laughs too hard at his own jokes anyway.
Even worse is the asshats in the audience who are cracking up. (Or obeying the laugh and clap signs when there is not even anything funny happening.) There are so many things I could wish upon this man and the people who find it funny, but I figure their stupidity is punishment in itself.
Would it be funny to rip a feeding tube out of someone? Or throw peanuts at someone allergic to them? Or making fun of someone who has lost their hair to chemo? No? Then why is it okay to laugh at someone who has to eat gluten free to have a normal (or halfway normal) life?
Thanks for advocating for our community, Dude.
That HAD to have been canned laughter because that Sh&t wasn’t even funny! I’d like to smash that blueberry pie in his face the kick him right in the A$$!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Get him Gluten Dude!!!!!!! Do us proud!
Wow, just wow. Not funny at all. :'(
yet again another jerk, I just finished watching seven days of the gluten summit, with many informative interviews, too bad the mass majoritey of people could not watch just one interview on this disease. From Dr. Marsh (stages of celiac was named after him) to Dr. Fasano, Dr. Davis (author of the wehat belly) Dr. Houston (cardiologist) and many many more knowledgable doctors that know so much about the effects of wheat on us. This summite was so informative and presented in terms we all can understand even the most ignorant that crack jokes at our expense. And i agree with you GD about the child with severe peanut allergy, celiac is also a deadly disease and is at the root of many autoimmune disease. I also learned that no human can digest wheat, such a wealth of knowledge from these doctors and specialists. As for the jerks of this world, I view them like cement, all mixed up and permantly set and would take a jack hammer to get thru to them. Stay well happy birtday to Mrs. Dude you both are great
Thank you for posting things like this. (Again.) It helps to understand why people are still so doubtful that this is real.
(Why do I have to talk about my biopsy at dinner parties? I’d just like to not have to do that, specifically.)
If Jimmy Fallon is making fun of the celebrities doing gluten free as a fad diet, then I’m be all for it.
But if he is making fun of people born with an autoimmune disease for which there is no cure, who avoid gluten due to the malnourishment, cancer, lymphoma, depression, infertility and chronic pain that gluten causes us… well, then I’m just speechless.
It’s pretty clear to me he’s mocking the disease from his instant outright dismissal of the straight man’s talk of headaches and fatigue. He offers no critique of the fad nature of the gluten-free diet among the Hollywood set and it’s obvious to me why: they’ll be less likely to appear on his show if he ever goes there. Easier and less consequence for him just to beat down the little guy.
Just had to share this comment from my Facebook page because it speaks volumes…
“We were just looking over the last year of pictures of our 8 yr old daughter, and seeing how visually sick she’s been. Her grossly enlarged stomach, on what looks like an anorexic frame. This has been the most challenging year of our lives. Physically and emotionally. Fuck you Jimmy Fallon.”
Wow. That says it all, doesn’t it? Kudos to this parent for summing it up so succinctly. I hope he or she sends a letter to Jimmy Fallon.
I have my own issues with Fallon, so I can’t say that any of this surprises me. He used to live in our neighborhood in NYC & hang out at the same bars, and suffice it to say that I was definitely *not* a fan, even before he hit it big and became more publicly obnoxious.
On a completely different note, sorry to go off topic, but you said you needed something more uplifting! So GD, have you had the new Harvester IPA #2? 90 IBU…Newport & Crystal hops. I almost cried. Thank heavens for Harvester Brewing! 🙂
Better yet, send letters to the advertisers. Does anyone know who his corporate sponsors/advertisers are? I’d be willing to send emails & get friends & family to do it, as well. Threaten to stop buying their products if they keep supporting him.
Wow. I’ve never thought he was funny…and now…well, I don’t want to think of him at all. He has some serious life lessons to learn…
If Jimmy Fallon and his crappy writers could just experience a day of what we go through….
Side note: Turns out that Disney episode is still on Netflix, and my kids watched it more than once before I realized. My kids, who have to bring along their own food and a cupcake to every birthday party, sleepover, family event, etc.
So tired of this garbage.
Maybe “The Dark Side of Wheat” should be required reading in school – starting today.
Jimmy Fallon: Go f#%k yourself.
What as a-hole, I have serious allergy to gluten and break out in hives from head to foot. There are no words for how sad this is for comedic material….would be totally karmic if he eventually develops a disease that gluten causes…..
Absolutely disgusting. What is his eff’n problem!? I’m glad I live far away from Jimmy Fallon because I would tear him a new one. What a low life maggot.
UGH!!!!
Leave us alone already. Don’t we suffer enough humiliation from this damn disease?
Do these people think we want this? Enjoy being social pariahs? Not able to ever eat out or enjoy food with friends and family?
What a freakin tool
Great. Just… fricken great. Another day, another jackass. And another reason to be dreading the upcoming holidays – as if I needed another with the mountain of reasons already piled up on top of my head and filling my stomach. Another bit of crap that will be used by my dad as ‘proof’ GF is just attention seeking, another eye-roll inducing bit of fodder to have to deal with when I go out to dinner with my husband’s coworkers.
Do we need to mail the mountain of medical testing reports and doctor’s notes of all the various ways we die piece by piece when exposed to gluten? Do we have to send family photos of years when we’re actually not IN any of the pictures because we were either in the bathroom, laying down to ill to stand, or the lovely photos of Christmas actually IN the hospital? Should we all just decide to go to a tv station, eat a slice of bread on camera and force the crew and newscaster to not only follow us to the bathroom, but make them STAY the 14 hours in there with us as the world literally falls out out backside, along with a good chunk of our lives?
I’m NOT a delicate flower. God knows that between having been ill for so long, being a total geekgirl as well as a massive klutz I’m the Queen of Mocking Myself. As a gal who shot past the 6ft line AND seemed to wake up with DD rack (that would eventually go all the way to a HH before settling back down at my current 36E) before my 12th birthday, I’m fine with cracking jokes about my appearance, my height, my size, my nerdiness, my lack of grace, my bustline, my interests. But having what feels like the entire planet decide that an actual honest to god lifelong chronic illness that made my life a living hell before being diagnosed and frankly STILL makes vast chunks of my life seems like the outer regions of hell or at least the nasty side of purgatory is an acceptable form of humiliation based insults in the name of ‘humor’ is just about to crack me in half.
I was so sick before I was finally diagnosed with celiac that in repeated parts of my life, in the worst of it, while I spent 3 weeks out of a month in a bathroom watching my life slip away, that repeatedly the desire to just say “Screw this, someone stop the ride, I’m getting off this ship” was a constant struggle to ignore. Sometimes, I didn’t. There is a very fine line between desperately being tired of it all and deciding to you might as fell rush the inevitable. Why this is okay, I just don’t know.
~~~~The Following Are NOT OK Statements, They Are Being Written As Extreme Examples And Are Not In ANY Way Truly Funny. However a family goes about building itself, it’s a family and struggles with fertility are heartbreaking. As sadly a lot of us in the celiac community know far too well.~~~~
Does this mean we should start making cracks about how he and his wife weren’t good enough to make a baby the ‘normal’ way? Does this mean he is cool if we all start publishing about how she wasn’t enough of a real woman to carry a baby to term? That he wasn’t man enough to knock his wife up the ‘right’ way? How about it being a hilarious joke about they aren’t ~really~ their baby’s parents, after all someone else carried her, someone else went through labor. Nearly 10 months of someone doing all the REAL parts of being a mom. How about jokes about how they must either not be good enough to make it through the adoption process or they must be really crappy people because they decided they could only love a kid that was their genetic match and couldn’t be bothered to adopt a child already here who needed them. Is that all just teasing and fair game? Because it is actually the same thing.
And I’m getting kind of tired of being the world’s go to bad joke punching bag. I get enough of that from my own body and my own life.
“Does this mean we should start making cracks about how he and his wife weren’t good enough to make a baby the ‘normal’ way? Does this mean he is cool if we all start publishing about how she wasn’t enough of a real woman to carry a baby to term? That he wasn’t man enough to knock his wife up the ‘right’ way? How about it being a hilarious joke about they aren’t ~really~ their baby’s parents, after all someone else carried her, someone else went through labor. Nearly 10 months of someone doing all the REAL parts of being a mom. How about jokes about how they must either not be good enough to make it through the adoption process or they must be really crappy people because they decided they could only love a kid that was their genetic match and couldn’t be bothered to adopt a child already here who needed them. Is that all just teasing and fair game? Because it is actually the same thing.”
No, it isn’t.
How on earth is making fun of someone’s misfortune okay?
Being unable to have a child is an excruciating sadness and horror.
I know. I lived it for 6 years. Multiple miscarriages and failed fertility treatments. Invasive, painful procedures and disappointment after disappointment. All because of undiagnosed celiac.
I never could carry to term.
If you find what he said so repulsive and wrong, why would you stoop to his level and taunt him back?
This kind of thinking perpetuates the stigma of “angry and whiny celiacs” that so many of the ill-informed already attach to us already. Don’t fuel it.
This kind of thinking harms the cause of celiac awareness just as much as idiot “sketch comedy”, in my opinion.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear in my intent, when I asked if that meant we should make comments about his families struggles with fertility I didn’t mean we ~should~ do so. The last thing I would do to any woman who had struggled for a child for so long would be to mock her – what I was attempting to say was perhaps someone should sit Jimmy Fallen down and lay out all the ways in which his statements about celiac would match attacks on his families struggles. Not to mock what they went though, to explain that his ignorance about celiac was exactly the same as if someone went after his families health issues. That in effect, he was hurting and attacking himself/family with his ignorance. To parallel his own experiences and struggles to that of the group he had chosen to not mock, but frankly to attack. While the desire to smack him upside the back of the head and them make him stay right by the side of someone in the midst of a glutening attack. The whole time, right there. In the bathroom. On the floor by the bed. Hear the frightened calls to work as someone hopes like hell that calling in sick ~again~ isn’t going to be the final straw that causes them to be fired. Watch the person miss the family event. Miss… life. Sit there next to them the entire time as the confusion and fog hits and they struggle to think/react clearly. Let him sit in the misery and perhaps see some parallels in his own life. Let him remember the joy of a positive pregnancy test… followed by the crushing despair when another possibility is suddenly lost. Again. See how closely tied to many of the things he and his wife struggled through are hand in had with celiacs and our struggle. And maybe – if it’s even possible for a ‘celebrity’ to do so – grow up and bit, step back, and see just how much of a jerk he was/is.
Sorry if I made if sound like it was okay to mock infertility. It’s why I included the warning statement of “This isn’t actually ok or funny in any way, these are extreme parallel statements meant to showcase why what he did isn’t ok”. I know I can sometimes not be as concise as I need to be, please accept my sincere regret for making it sound to you like I was suggesting we actually use those spears to attack the man and his family. I’m kinda struggling at the moment and even though I’m ~always~ terribly verbose, lately I think I’m not able to clearly say things as I want. It rather feels like I’m walking/thinking/typing in mud and can’t seem to say anything right. I’m truly and deeply sorry if I offended you. One of the perks of reading this blog is knowing that after a well written post by GlutenDude, I can count on the extra bounce of your interjections and reactions. Upsetting or disappointing you (or anyone else here that participates) is the last thing I want to do and I am incredibly sorry for not being clear in my statement, and for frankly not being able lately to get what I mean out the right way. I seem to mess this, as well as just about everything else, up. I think I need to shut up now, but I’m really sorry.
Hello Jenna:
It was plain and clear to me the intent of your reply- I didn’t for one minute think that one should respond with an actual attack. And I think you have made it very clear with your apology to anyone who misunderstood your message.
It’s unfortunate that GF is cast in such a bad light but quite honestly, shows like this aren’t even worth watching – hard to believe how anybody finds it funny- pathetic actually.
Jenna.
I am sorry, too that I misunderstood the gist of your message.
I see that perhaps I misread it.
When I saw the second one from Julie, I was very upset
that anyone would even think of such a thing. It seemed to be that
it was more than just a “what if’scenario and there was a lot of anger
in the words here.
To me, it’s never okay to make fun of anyone or to use something painful to make a point to someone.. Maybe that’s just me.
I hope you will forgive me if I jumped to the wrong conclusion.
All the best, always
IH
Irish- This conversation is the perfect example of how typed words can lose their intended meaning when you can’t hear the voice or see the face that is saying them. I too have had a miscarriage, so I would never poke fun at someone’s pain in losing a baby, and Jimmy shouldn’t poke fun at the misery I experience either. It is never ok to make fun of anyone’s pain. My passion may have come through loud and clear and overshadowed the intent of my heart. Jenna said what I was feeling very well, “what I was attempting to say was perhaps someone should sit Jimmy Fallen down and lay out all the ways in which his statements about celiac would match attacks on his families struggles. Not to mock what they went though, to explain that his ignorance about celiac was exactly the same as if someone went after his families health issues. That in effect, he was hurting and attacking himself/family with his ignorance.” Yes, there was a lot of anger behind the words, and I’m still mad, but I am not going to mock him. I just want him to see how his attack on us is so hurtful and not funny, at all. I want him to stop bullying us.
Julie
I agree completely about typed words and intent and I see how I misinterpreted what you were saying.
Maybe if someone sent him some medical information about gluten and infertility it would hit home; maybe not.
I often wonder how much it really matters to people who do not walk in our shoes.
I have spelled all this out to family members who
fail to see the connection to their various AI diseases. I fear no matter what I say, they will never “get it”. If I push too hard, then I am a “pain in the ass with the gluten thing”
Sometimes, no matter how vivid a picture we paint, people
just can’t see it. .
Again, sorry if I missed the point you guys were making.
I guess the whole topic just makes me upset and even after all these years, it sparks great sadness.
Best wishes to you.
That pompous douche!
I wouldn’t wish this disease on my worst enemy. I just get so sick of the looks, the questions, and feeling something is wrong with me because my body doesn’t process junk! I’m even more tired of avoid social and family functions because I’m terrified of getting sick or feeling like a douche because I can’t participate in “regular” food.
I’m boycotting everything Fallon!
I wish I had not even watched this. It was disgusting – celiac disease is not funny. I agree that it must have been canned laughter – I do not watch his show and guess this stupidity might be why.
Wow…. I am too exhausted to even explain how disgusting that clip was from literally being on the toilet until 2:30 this am…and my gut is killing me all from accidentally getting glutened and this isn’t the end of my week of suffering. Highly disappointed in Jimmy. Not funny at all.
Where would I send a letter to? I’m so angry I’m actually shaking.
I am going to tweet him and email him and go on his Facebook page and website… have your friends and family do it too 🙂
Thanks GD for bringing this clip to our attention. I’m all for trying to contact his sponsors and giving him grief in any way we can. When I watched it I thought exactly the same thing: would he give a kid allergic to peanuts a peanut butter sandwich in the face? Not funny at all and it really pisses me off.
Is this supposed to be funny? Fallon is a total dweeb. This makes me want to kick his ass. Now wouldn’t THAT be funny. I think it’d be hilarious!
I used to like Jimmy Fallon, good comedian. You know what I think about his skit, right in the garbage. I will get all glutened up and go to his house and he can see what happens to a body from top to bottom( no pun intended with the bottom reference).
jimmy fallon never has been, nor will he ever be, funny. i tried to watch his show a few times and i couldn’t even get through the whole awkward douchery. the laughs were so forced that i actually felt embarrassed. he is a sketch comedian. but, unlucky for him, he’s only funny when playing off of someone with actual talent. which brings us to this schoolyard mentality fiasco of a sketch that i just watched. he’s one of the most boring and uncreative people i have ever seen on tv. the fact that he has to resort to advocating the bullying of people with an autoimmune disease proves that he’s a useless piece of shit.
“You don’t actually believe gluten is bad for you?”
Oh, you do, well have a pie in the face!
My concerns with this are multiple, but highest on the list is that the producers of this material have to know of the existence of celiac disease, and yet they’d rather fill the show with whatever they can, however idiotic or misinforming. I bet they’d say the joke was aimed at the fadsters, those contributing to the GF trend, those that capitalize but do not necessarily empathize. And they’d say that they can’t explain the joke intra-joke, then it wouldn’t be funny. They may admit that everyone on staff knew it wasn’t the best material, but it was less unfunny than what didn’t make the show. They’d say it’s just a late-night comedy bit, who’s watching anyway? Okay, maybe not that one…
This was me…experienced a posting lock-out yesterday, immediately corrected by GD. For some reason had a dot on the form today, and didn’t notice.
What a royal asshat. Not even funny,you jerkwad.
(that’s my calm and PG-rated response and not at all what I am really thinking)
P.S. I saw Craig Ferguson in person last night—now, he is hilarious.
He did a thing on what it feels like to have a colonoscopy prep
that made me laugh so hard I almost peed. 🙂
O Irish! You lucky thing! I ADORE Craig Ferguson!!!! That sexy man beast can tell me all about his colonoscopy anytime! But better than that; he is genuinely funny and smart about it! He has a brain and uses it!
He is very handsome in person. Tall. Big feet. LOL
If you have never seen his movie Saving Grace…please find it
and watch it. Hysterical!
Truth is….when I was seriously ill for 3 years, going downhill and losing my brain and my strength before finally getting a diagnosis, my hubs would tape his show for me every night and I would watch him and laugh. I thought that laughter and flooding myself with comedies would help me stay sane somehow and keep me fighting to live. He helped save my sanity. 🙂
I will certainly watch the movie! I love his comedy and think he is yummy! I have taken your recommendations for other things and you haven’t steered me wrong yet. I bought Recognizing Celiac Disease because you talked about it and consider it my Bible now. I chat it up ( probably too much if you asked the fam/friends!) all the time.
I was sick from 2004 until last August when I self diagnosed. My docs wanted me to go back “on gluten” but I just wasn’t ready to make myself sick again. I had seen the promised land and wasn’t strong enough emotionally or physically to be sick on purpose. I still haven’t done the battery of tests. I feel like I will do one day soon but not yet. I don’t know if I can inflict that level of pain and torment on myself willingly but… adulthood sucks and means that we have to do things that are extremely unpleasant.
I am an easy going kind of gal and would rather than cry any day. I love comedies and reruns like Golden Girls and MASH and cheesy movies and consider them a lifeline when no one in my family understands that some days I cannot function the way that I could even the day prior. A good giggle or a side splitter is better than a handful of snotty tissue and puffy eyes.
I am so glad that anything I might have said was of help to you.
That book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how gluten affects the body. Not just the GI tract, but the entire body. As Dr. Fasano
points out: once the gut is compromised, the whole body can go haywire.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to inflict that kind of harm on your body just to get a diagnosis. They are working on ways to make the diagnostic process easier, faster, more effective and less invasive. I hope they find a better way soon. Too many sick people falling through the diagnostic cracks simply because they do not meet what was once regarded as the “gold standard”.
And yes, laughter is healing. 😉 Hugs to you!
As if having my gluten free pretzels mocked in a college classroom by another adult student yesterday wasn’t enough. I had a big bag of pretzels and I was offering them to my classmates as students sometimes do this. Nobody accepted any, and one guy mocked the fact that they were gluten free, and wouldn’t drop the topic on what they could possibly be made of. When I said they were made from corn, potato, and tapioca he mockingly said, “Oh yum, I just love me some tapioca root.” I told him that they tasted good, and just like other pretzels. I hadn’t even brought up that they were gluten free, but the bag said it on there and he knew I can’t eat gluten.
I felt shamed and embarrassed at the age of 28. It didn’t last long in the moment, but seeing that Jimmy Fallon did this brought back those feelings. My face contorted quickly into a frown of sadness and disappointment. I can’t even imagine how a very young child feels to be mocked. It must have an even larger emotional effect. I know not being able to have dairy in junior high and high school was difficult, but now with so many people teasing those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease on a grand scale it’s awful out there.
I’m so glad we have each other. I just wish you all lived closer!
It is a shame that an adult can be so closeminded. My son gets teased at school all the time about his lunches, because not only is he gluten free, he is allergic to vanilla, yeast, walnuts, and peanuts. Most days, he eats his lunch with the school counselor, or another teacher and a small group of other allergy and gluten free kids.
As to the video, I’m ready to curse JF with a dose of his own medicine.
Check the awkward silence from the audience around 0:35 after he talks about everyone else getting headaches from hearing about the ills of gluten. After this line he pauses in anticipation of a big laugh that never comes, and even awkwardly turns his head after it bombs before the straight man moves along in the script to fill the silence.
I was never much of a JF fan even from his SNL days when he couldn’t get through a 2-min skit with corpsing. He couldn’t even stop himself here as he held the pie.
Just saw this posted minutes ago on JF’s twitter feed:
“Hashtag game! Tweet out something funny or embarrassing that happened on Thanksgiving & tag with #thanksgivingfail. Could be on our show!”
How about assholes dismissing our celiac disease and trying to force feed us something poison? Now THAT would be just totally freakin’ hilarious.
This is bullying and not one bit funny. What would it take to make him see that you don’t poke fun at people who have a disease? I’m with Jenna. Let’s bring the joke to our court and aim at his Achilles’ heel, infertility. Someone write an article that mirrors this one where he opens up about he and his wife’s struggle to conceive, but do it as a celiac. http://www.parade.com/63778/viannguyen/jimmy-fallon-5-year-fertility-struggle-was-awful-and-depressing/
Shame on Jimmy Fallon!
Actually, the kinder thing would be to send him the articles that show
how gluten intolerance is medically linked to infertility.
Of course, she is 46 now, according to that article, so this is a moot point.
Probably so, but this really makes me mad. I’ve tweeted a few comments to him. What a bully!
Sorry, Julie, but I guess I just do not see how what you suggest is any less unkind than what he did. 🙁
As someone who suffered multiple miscarriages (due to undiagnosed celiac) and never could carry to term, I can only imagine her pain.
Maybe I find what he said stupid and insensitive, but I hardly think
attacking his misfortune is the right thing to do.
Just my opinion.
I agree that attacking the infertility isn’t really a fair hit (considering the number of miscarriages that I’ve had I can feel for how tough it was for his wife) but I do wonder if pointing out all the pain and trials they have gone through to achieve the gift of their child mirrors a lot of the misery, loss and struggles celiacs have might make something ring in his head – or if not in HIS, then in his wife’s. (And as the saying goes, ‘if momma ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy.’ Something that connects to her struggles might knocked a bit of sense into his head.) Would he stand in the middle of the fertility clinics office and insult the couples who are still struggling? Hold his baby girl up and tell couples they aren’t really trying? Of course not. So why he thinks this is okay to do for people who are struggling every day with a chronic lifelong immune system destroying disease – that can cause many of the same things his wife had to wade through – is beyond me.
I certainly would never attack him with intent to harm, but only to have a conversation with him to make a point and hoping he could understand why what he is doing is so wrong. If I used their infertility frustrations as an example to point out, “How would it feel if I made fun of you?”, I think he might see how his bullying and making fun of our disease isn’t funny at all.
By the very definition of the word “attack” there is intent to harm..
I do not find this approach helpful to our cause of spreading celiac( or gluten sensitivity) as a real health crisis ” awareness” or education at all.
I wonder what the rest of you celiacs/NCGS peeps reading this blog
think?
Thank you for the link Julie!!! Jimmy messed with the wrong community…
Thanks for posting! I agree with what everyone here has said, and I too was so angry I wrote to him. I actually was a HUGE fan of his and feel extremely let down that he stooped to this low level of mockery. If anyone else is interested, post something on his FB page… he’s VERY active on Social Media and this would definitely be seen!
In response to Irish and Julie’s conversation above, I think the community is pissed…and rightfully so. But I agree that we do not stoop to their level.
Let’s call out the BS. Let’s educate. Let’s use our passion to make our message heard. But the second we start calling others out for their misfortunes is the second our message begins to get lost.
Lord knows I’m as passionate as they come about this and perhaps I cross the line on occasion. But to be fair, that’s usually just when a Kardashian is involved 😉
LOL
Wow… Maybe I’m overemotional today or something because mosta that stuff just pisses me off and makes me angry but that just really made me sad, ashamed, and embarrassed to the core and not at all what I would expect from jimmy Fallon… Mock the fad but don’t shame and humiliat the rest of us. Wow.. Gotta say that one just hurt…
Furious doesn’t even begin to describe my reaction. Nor do words like shocked, disgusted, state of disbelief, amazement, anger, or sadness. I’m so far beyond all of those seeing that performance. I can’t even separate out all the different parts of it that set me off.
As long as things like this are out there on such mainstream media as Jimmy Fallon, people with G health issues (be they celiac, gluten sensitivity, whatever) will be mistreated, misunderstood, subject to ridicule, verbal abuse, emotional pain, and just plain inhumane discriminatory treatment because of their conditions. What will it take to get through to people in this kind of environment??!
A small part of me might be tempted to think that there are these stupid people in tine world who will never change and that there is no sense in wasting energy trying to change them when we could be focusing on strengthening our community and connecting with people who *may* be able to be educated and understand. BUT that can’t be the way to go. Because those stupid types are poisoning all the rest of the world with their actions – it spreads like dominos and creates a culture that thinks it is okay to behave in such a fashion. And that’s the culture we are being forced to live it. And that is just wrong.
I simply told him on his Facebook page “shame on you, you’re a bully for using a disease as serious as ours weak attempt at humor” I may have said something on his article as well cant remember 🙂 he and others are going to far!!!
This is my first time posting but I have been reading your blog for the past few months gluten dude. I am newly diagnosed and your site has been so helpful. Thank you to all who have posted tips, resources and advice for ‘newbies.’ It has been much appreciated:)
Now on to why I am finally saying something today- Jimmy Fallon made me really mad! I wanted to go on his Facebook page and do my best yelling, name calling, and screaming, but I didn’t think name calling would do much good (although several people have tried it, if you look at his page). I did leave a post and I plan to complain to NBC as well. I think the more of us that do that the better, and thanks for posting about this gluten dude. I would complain to sponsors of the show as well but I haven’t been able to find a list of them online. Has anyone else?
Thanks for the comment Diana. I don’t know about hitting the sponsors…that’s a boat load of effort and I wish I had the time to organize something. We’ve made our message heard. I am in a deep discussion with someone who knows Jimmy Fallon and is working on getting an apology. We’ll see where this takes us.
I don’t understand how that was funny. Apparently he doesn’t know anyone with celiac disease.
This was so offensive that it inspired me to send an email to NBC.
Easy to do – go on the Jimmy Fallon site – at the bottom of the page is “contact us” – it takes you to NBC – but there is an option to leave a message – and I did!! What a jerk!!!
I was horrified watching this. But to play devil’s advocate (only for a second), almost EVERYTHING – from the holocaust to racial issues to cancer – have all been made the subject of comedy.
Take South Park, for example. The difference here is that South Park and other (actually funny) comedies are clever and well-executed even if it’s at someone else’s expense. They are also educating, sometimes, on whatever the subject may be, because good comedy finds (ok, sometimes questionable) ways to exploit TRUTH even if certain aspects are overemphasized or exaggerated simply for comedic routine.
This video, on the other hand, was neither clever nor well-executed, and wasn’t even funny. If he had been talking specifically about Celiac disease and poking fun at Celiacs because of the humiliation we feel when a foot away from a pie (mouths salivating of course) and the like, THAT could have been funny! Even though it’s a terrible disease – one I’ve been hospitalized for several times, there are definitely humourous parts (like how one tiny crumb has the power to confine me to a toilet for days) that we can all agree to laugh about in the end. In terms of JF’s goals and for comedy’s sake, this was a complete failure. Due to the obvious lack of knowledge on anything related to celiac disease, he failed to say anything funny about it. And furthermore, he actually had no point except to say that gluten-free isn’t real. Which isn’t funny….even for a non-celiac.
Not funny at all Jimmy. Anyone who has Celiac disease knows that this disease can strike at any age. If there is a Karma-fairy, one can only hope that one day Jimmy starts getting stomach aches, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, weight loss, energy and stamina loss and an overall sense of feeling like s#@t. Now THAT would be funny !!!!!
If he had done that to my celiac daughter, I would have not let him leave until she vomited on him. Put THAT to a laugh track!
I love a good joke. Heck, I even make jokes about being gluten free sometimes. The difference is the jokes I may make are always self-deprecating, always have to do with ME and how I relate or react to the issue of gluten not the issue itself. Unfortunately this was not a good joke. At the very least a joke should be FUNNY. This wasn’t even funny.
I was having dinner with a woman who has a 7 year old daughter. Her daughter has Autism and had failed in 6 years years to thrive and function as a 6 year old would be expected. After a doctor’s diagnosis of Celiac Disease the parents put the daughter on a gluten free diet. Within the first month, their daughter spoke for the first time.
Yea, that’s not funny either – its a beautiful, awe-inspiring miracle!
That’s a beautiful, inspiring story, Carol. Thanks—I needed that!
Just bolsters the idea that we really need screening for CD in pre-disposed infants in this country.
Yep…I’m the first to laugh at myself and what we go through. But that doesn’t give the media a free pass to essentially mislead, misinform and add to what is already a challenging situation for us.
Alright… I am going to be in the vast minority here, but somebody has to say it. IT’S IS A JOKE!! This clip, whether funny or not, is being displayed out of context. I am not a huge Jimmy Fallon fan, but even I know that this “comedy bit” is supposed to make him look like a “jerk newscaster”. Much like those who bought into the “news story” of the kids were being forced to play soccer without a ball, you are all being duped and reacting to something that doesn’t deserve this much energy. Enjoy your life gluten-free, and even if you don’t agree with the humor, accept that mocking things is as much a free choice as the one you have to turn the channel or not give something this much attention.
Yeah, it’s a comedy show and a joke. Just like dwarf tossing, blackface, freak shows, the idea that gays where somehow less then real men and women belong either in the kitchen or their knees were at various times in the world completely acceptable and ‘good clean fun’. It’s a bit built totally around isolating a group of people who are different and telling the world they are nothing more then a joke and they should be ridiculed because they are whiners with nothing wrong with them. There IS a need for everyone, with every issue, to learn how to roll with things and make light of what they can. But not this way. This isn’t a funny bit of observational humor – this was a man with a very large forum being a complete and total ass about a condition he doesn’t have that is already a difficult thing to manage that much harder. I really hate using the term bullying because I’m a grown 34 years old gal with a mortgage, not an 8 year old on the playground being shoved into the playground fence and it feels off in the extreme in my own head to view myself in that frame – that being said though, he IS acting like a bully and an ass, the bit isn’t even remotely amusing and god knows I’m actually pretty good at laughing at myself (I mean, really. I’m a gal who one had to pull into a total strangers yard, walk up to a very nervous looking octogenarian, hand her my wallet and cell phone, tell her “I swear I’m harmless, but ma’am if I don’t get a bathroom in the next 3 minutes, it’s all over. You can call my mom, the cops, here’s my id and her number is the first on the phone – but now you have to make a choice… I’m either going inside the house to the bathroom or it’s going to be the rosebushes over there. Not much time, decide please” – if I can’t see the overwhelming surreal humor in moments like that, I’m blind and dim as a rock.) but this wasn’t done as a ‘isn’t this funny about’ this was a flat out school yarn bully, pushing a kid into a locker, and telling the gathered group of jeering kids all the reasons the person pushed flat against the locker was a loser. That’s not humor. Not a joke.
Well said Jenna. And thanks for the giggle about your story. Not funny…but still…
Laugh by all means. Once I got myself pulled together (and she called my mom AND her neighbor to come over just to be on the safe side) I emerged from her powder room to a lovely pitcher of lemonade and some cookies. It was one of more surreal moments I’ve had, but the fact I got charmin and a drink instead of thorns and a cop wanting to know why I was squatting in her bushes made me a very happy girl, more then willing to accept the extreme weirdness of the situation.
Jenna, your story is great! I am crying! I have been there! Well, not actually in the going to the door part but I have a secret weapon. I carry toilet paper in my purse, in the car, etc. I have “done the deed” on the side of the road many times. Too funny and thanks for sharing!
Ah, another “prepared for everything gal”! I to have a purse that would make a rummager pause and a boyscout leader ponder handing me a badge. For short trips there is toilet paper (if you haven’t discovered it yet, allow me to mention a magic form – the tp designed for campers. It dissolves quickly, well not so quick it’s a rare to use, but help hide any moments of “well, hope this scares away bears” that you might endure), wipes, hand sanitizer, a full change of clothes (I’ve had some seriously horrifying ‘well, crap’ moments to make that a requirement – you would be amazed at how small I can pack this huge list down to. My husband swears I must have a tiny dimensional door in my bag) and a note from my doctor should I be discovered by a ranger or a cop. Both have happened. For long trips…. I have a portable toilet. Just one of the many reasons we own a Jeep, so should things go pear shaped I have a place to go, a place I can change in, and should it be required, a quick nap/recovery zone. There is an upside – I can pack anything now, from a Christmas gift to the contents of a whole house with serious speed and ease. So I suppose there are a FEW perks I’ve picked up along with celiac!
The wonders of a woman with a magic purse! I too have one! I carry GF food of course and the aforementioned TP but also hand sanitizer and other goodies. In my car I keep baby/ flushable wipes, a change of clothes and more TP. (I used to carry all of this in my purse but CD has given me arthritis in my shoulders and they are simply too painful to bear the weight. I have thought of using a backpack and using it on both shoulders. I am not in the least worried about fashion so that isn’t a problem. )
I have actually never heard of a portable toilet but will look into them now. I don’t travel well but it would be nice to have in case.
O the perks of CD! I can tell the weather (arthritis), sniff out gluten better than a bloodhound ( unfortunately only after ingestion), set world records for TP usage, rage harder than a PCP user on steroids, and talk about poop with total strangers with a straight face. 🙂 You gotta love this great disease!! Everyone should have it!
Yes it’s a comedy show. But it’s also pop culture and pop culture is ridiculing us and encouraging the weak minded to be cruel to us. Like say for example cooks in restaurants who already think we are needy, cry babies with no real health problem. We don’t need Jimmy encouraging them to poison us!
Ruth is correct. The point of it all is that we are going to take it personal b/c we are not taken seriously. Each and everyone of us have stories about trying to go out to eat getting the eye rolls with all the questions we have to ask and then still getting “hit” most of the time. JF has polluted how many viewers minds? JF owes us an apology. LIke GD said, would shoving a peanut butter sandwich into an allergic kids face be funny? NOT the kid could die. I don’t see the difference in what JF did. I don’t think the clip made JF look like a “jerk newscaster.” I think it mocked people who have an auto-immune disorder called celiac disease. (and/or gluten sensitivity.)
This might be a job for Dr. Phil he likes putting bullies in check by giving them an education on the subject…quite a few of us made comments on Jimmy’s Facebook page not sure he or his staff even look at them, the most heart wrenching was a young lady named sydni she was dx at age 8 and is now 14 she was thanking Jimmy for making her life even more difficult then it already is as her father doesn’t believe her illness is real therefore mom and dad are continuously at war, she went on to say I hope you enjoy your thanksgiving as I won’t be having one because mom isn’t allowed to cook…if not for our family, friends and god forbid ourselves we must be the voice for these kids!!! So fed up…
He should feel our pain when we eat gluten. This is just truly sad.
I usually don’t get annoyed by this kind of thing, but come on Jimmy Fallon. That’s a bunch of BS…
This was not funny. At all. What a effing prick. Screw you Jimmy Fallon.
Jimmy Fallon has reached rock bottom on this skit and continues digging.
Jimmy Fallon just lost me a fan. I was diagnosed over 15 years ago as having Celiac disease. For years my mother accused me of making myself sick after dinner; trust me when I say it’s the last thing I want to do after eating a nice meal is to heave it back up and/or diarrhea, let alone go into the hospital because I go into epileptic seizures. And then have to be monitored for 24 hours afterwards when the medicine wears off because I can still die.
Let me guess, there’s no such thing as being allergic to peanuts, fish, coconut oil?
My God forgive you Jimmy Fallon for shoving that pie into that young man’s face.
No one understands it was a joke. The guy is obviously an actor. Fallon does not act that way with his guests. And he doesn’t wear glasses either. It was a skit folks…calm down. He was no doubt acting and you people dont get it
I get your point, and I tend to prefer edgy humor myself. But sadly, the point is that we DO get it was a joke, and we are already raw-nerved from a lifetime of bullying and ridicule over a disease we cannot change or cure. The joke enforces widespread misunderstandings about a life-threatening disease that I nearly died from at the age of two. It’s not that we can’t laugh at ourselves. We just can’t laugh at something that causes pain, agony, and an early death when left undiagnosed.
And we are not, as the joke implies, wimps. We are some of the toughest people around. Sadly, like Gluten Dude poignantly states, celiac is the only disease in which sufferers have to defend themselves.
If Jimmy Fallon continues ridiculing celiacs for being forced to live gluten-free (that’s right, forced – we don’t want this disease!), then he can never logically call himself open-minded, progressive, or accepting of those with differences. Celiac is a polarizing disease, since you learn very quickly who is innately compassionate and who is innately cruel.
On the bright side, this could end up being “reverse awareness.” With every idiotic attack from uneducated rubes, the greater the outcry from the celiac community. I hope we are heard!
that just sucks. I’m actually speechless.
This bloke is a total waste of space. How dare he do and say what he did. what is he trying to do, kill people that have Celiac disease? I’m going to post this on facebook because I believe that there are choices out there, and he needs to pull his head out of the sand and realise he is a wasted space on this earth.
Gluten issues aside, (and of course, there are real problems with outright dismissal of a real medical condition), it’s not even funny.
It’s all about someone with power using it to abuse and torment someone who has no power. When is that ever funny?
This is just stupid.
What?!? Was this for real? Don’t they know that doing this to a true celiac is life threatening? If this was just a skit, I really can’t believe they did it – very insensitive. Not liking Jimmy Fallon – never watched him and now I for sure never will.
Just not funny! You should be more responsible, for those of us that have celiac disease gluten is a poison. Eating gluten in any amount will kill us, yes I said kill us. I hope you or your baby never experience the pain associated with this auto immune disease. Maybe that would be the only way you would be responsible and get your facts straight.
I am contacting the show. I have seizures if I have too much gluten where as a tiny bit of cross-contamination has me down for about three days. The skit and his other bit where he mocked those who cannot have gluten and called them Mary made me nauseous just watching. He should be educated and absolutely ought to apologize.
You can contact them too…I don’t know how much good it will do, but if they are flooded with people ticked off at him, maybe it will.
http://www.nbc.com/contact/general/
People make fun of gluten-free, because the only thing they have seen would be celebrities going on the latest fad diet. Most people have never even HEARD of Celiac Disease, so how do you expect them to have any empathy toward it? You need to educate the public.
That’s all some of us do….educate….constantly….it’s tiring.
Totally NOT cool!! Someone needs to educate this dude about Celiac disease and why some people must eat gluten free. It’s not just a fad Fallon. Stop bullying those you don’t understand.
I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of Mr. Fallon, but I’ve been content to largely ignore him. However, I was sent this earlier tonight and I’m furious. G intolerance as well as celaic’s are a major part of my life, and (fortunately) I don’t even have the disease. This kind of “joke” makes it that much more difficult for some to take this seriously.
I have two people in my life that have not only celaic’s, but also DH as well. One of them is my husband, the other a gal I’ve known for 15 yrs. They not only have to avoid wheat gluten in their food, but in topical uses such as conditioners and lotions. Believe me, that was quite the shock. It’s the ultimate double whammy, and I wouldn’t even wish it upon Mr. Fallon. However, I do wish he could experience it for one day. Not just the stomach issues, not just the brain fatigue or the other host of more typical problems, but DH as well. He should eat something that he enjoys that he knows makes him sick, then go roll in poison ivy for a couple of hours. What a sadly ignorant man.
People with celaics/G intolerance do and have joked about it all the time. However, they aren’t even this mean to themselves about it. I can’t believe I was watching that from a bunch of so-called “adult” writers. You can bet that I not only tweeted him, and left a comment on the Late Night FB page, but also wrote to NBC as well. He could have made that young man very sick just by touching that pie to his face, if the young man has DH.
Oh and I don’t eat GF, Mr. Fallon. See, I can choose not to. I keep a separate cutting board and knife set so I don’t contaminate our kitchen, keep my hands washed and my teeth clean. I’d also like those “adults” to tell a young scared kid that celaic’s is fake. I’m sure after the blood tests and the (possible) biopsy, they’d love to her that.
Gah, a lot of typos in the above, so I hope I was easy to understand!
Big Sigh… I don’t get why this is even funny! Even if you didn’t have to eat gluten free. It reminds me of the worst of Saturday Night Live…and we know how bad that got. Jimmy Fallon has lost a touch he never really had. He should have stayed doing sweetheart roles in movies. Jenna is right about the bullying. Dude, It reminds me of the Disney show again! And it’s just stupid, for no reason, just to make fun of. And im a person who doesnt mind being made fun of. Hahaha OMG it’s like so funny you have this really bad food thing… What is it again? An allergy? A disease? Oh well whatever it is… Can you do that pregnant stomach thing for our audience? Here, eat this piece of bread and see what happens!! I’m a monkey with a drum, put a quarter in my thumb, I will sing and dance for you, clang clang clang n hoot hoot hoot!
I was diagnosed with Celiacs disease at 18 months, on my deathbed. This isn’t funny to me at all! It reminds me of a mom who didn’t understand.
I was invited to attend a friends birthday party, the mom offered me some cake to which I promptly told her I was allergic, she didn’t believe me and told me I had to eat it if I wanted to participate. I ate it all the while telling her it would kill me. When she dropped me off she told my mom how disrespectful I was. When my mom asked her what I did, she told her that I didn’t want to eat the cake, saying I was allergic, but that she made me anyway. To which my mother promptly told her I am allergic to it and it will kill me. Needless to say she was red in the face and I was never invited over for another birthday party.
Jimmy you ned to grow some ball, and educate yourself before you make stupid, false jokes about things that can actually kill someone! I can’t even touch it, I’m that sensitive to it!!!
NBC has a blog page already quite a few people posting their dislike regarding the skit…does anybody pay attention to the feedback given? It’s worth a shot to educate…
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2013/11/night-news-now-tiny-al-roker-gluten-free-cookbook/
Has there been any kind of apology or acknowledgement from Jimmy Fallon, or the show or the network? I’ve been trying to pay attention but might have missed something.
Sadly…you haven’t missed a thing. Considering how social media savvy he is, I’m actually surprised we’ve heard nothing since the celiac community really let their thoughts known on his FB page.
This was my post on his FB page. Doesn’t he know the drill? He does something tasteless and mean, we educate him, he gives an apology and promises never to do it again. It’s not that hard. Posted again today. May just do it every day from now on, like a zen thing.
From FB:
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. My daughter has Celiac Disease. If she eats any gluten, in the short term, she gets painful headaches, an upset stomach, diarrhea or constipation or both. In the long term, if she’s consistently exposed to gluten, she can get some related GI disease or cancer, and die. Is that funny? Do you want to write a joke about that?
Even if she doesn’t get exposed to gluten, she still has to deal with every birthday party and every soccer party and every other social event, where 3 adults ask her why she brought a pizza to a pizza making party. We have to live with it every day, with every meal and snack we eat everywhere. You’re making the world a harder place for my child. Not because of something she’s done or chosen, but because she has a disease.
http://iamjasminekyle.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/mahatma_gandhi_quote_protest_by_thesaygi-d4hurp61.jpg
Love that quote…
Somebody Please explain to me why Chelsea Clinton chose Jimmy Fallon’s show as her platform to discuss her global issues campaign? Really Jimmy Fallon I wouldn’t be surprised if he did a skit on human trafficking, I’m so disappointed:( I really like Chelsea Clinton and the things that she’s trying to accomplish regarding global issues, she posted on her Facebook page that she would be appearing tonight on Fallon and she hoped we would all be watching I had to post a comment as to why I would not be watching but I loved her anyway. Why Fallon?
I am soooooo disappointed to see this pathetic video. This is just utterly and outrageously disrespectful on so many levels. Inexcusable and irresponsible. Period.
I missed this when it first aired.
Jimmy needs to take some lessons from the Three Stooges. They know how to make throwing a pie look FUN.
This was just lame and pointless and MEAN.
How was it funny?
I have Multiple Sclerosis and eliminating gluten seems to reduce symptoms for myself and countless other MS sufferers. I don’t understand what is so funny about people taking precaution even when their condition isn’t medically recognized as a gluten intolerance.
I don’t even have a problem with people going GF just to lose weight. It seems to work, and where’s the crime in eliminating foods that contribute to weight gain. I know people that have lost 50 lbs and feel better than ever, just by cutting out gluten.
So where’s the joke?
Is it funny when some people choose to stop drinking Coke and eating Mcdonalds because of its “possible” negative effects?
I’ll gladly give Jimmy Fallon a heavy right hook to the face if I ever meet him. Since improving my diet, my fitness is at all time high, I’ve become a bodybuilder, and my muscles have gotten quite large. ;). Not quite the whiny little bitch the supremely talented jimmy Fallon tried to make us out to be.
I wonder what Fallon’s next joke will be about. Diabetic amputees? Blind children? What a creative genius.
I’m late to this party, but just as upset. Here is the analogy that I sent to Fallon (and Kimmel): You would not bring a bald child onto your set and make fun of his bald head. Lots of jokes come to mind, but you have no idea if the kid is bald for fashion or from chemotherapy. So you don’t make fun; you let it alone so as to not make it worse for a potentially sick kid. With gluten jokes, you did the same thing to my kids with the same results. We struggle every day with a disease that not many people believe exists. Jokes about it are not funny but are hurtful, and actually make getting treatment harder since you’ve helped to make it a punchline. Please don’t do it again.
I’m pretty sure it will fall on deaf ears, and I am as tired as many of you about having to educate constantly, but sometimes people listen. And those wins are usually pretty good.
That was a beautiful analogy. But, the problem is that he will never see your response on this site, and thus, will never be educated. People should take these comments and post them on HIS website, or to NBC where he is more likely to see it.
I did email it to him (and a modified version for Jimmy Kimmel) through their networks’ contacts. I was trying to find something more direct, but we shall see. Thanks for the feedback!
Oh! That is AWESOME!