WAYNE NEWTON - NEWTON ATTACKS CHAT SHOW KING CARSON

NEWTON ATTACKS CHAT SHOW KING CARSON

Veteran U.S. entertainer WAYNE NEWTON stunned America on Thursday night (29Nov07) when he attacked beloved chat show king JOHNNY CARSON. Newton was a guest on CNN show Larry King Live when he opened up about late TV icon Carson for the first time. The Las Vegas showman revealed the man many Americans adored was really "mean-spirited". Newton revealed he was personally offended when Carson started implying the singer was gay in jokes on The Tonight Show. He said, "I had done his show many, many times and considered him a friend of mine and all of a sudden a whole new brand of humour started to be displayed by him and he was... questioning my masculinity." Newton spent 18 months trying to talk to Carson about the jokes at his expense, and eventually turned up unannounced at his TV studio in Burbank, California to confront the TV host. The singer recalled, "I said to Mr. Carson, `I don't know what friend of yours I've killed, I dunno what child of yours I've hurt, I dunno what food I've taken out of your mouth, but these jokes about me will stop and they will stop now - or I will kick your ass... I am here to straighten out whatever your problem is." Newton claimed Carson protested and tried to pretend he was a big fan - and the confrontation was enough to stop the jokes.