Amusement park removes "Halloween Haunt" skeletons of Steve McNair, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger etc. after uproar.

In bad taste or just Halloween fun?



http://news.cincinnati.co...on+display


Amusement park removes "Halloween Haunt" skeletons of Steve McNair, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger etc. after uproar.


Kings Island drops skeleton display

The Enquirer • September 24, 2009

MASON – Kings Island has dropped a Halloween Haunt display showing a skeletal slain NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his dead mistress Sahel Kazemi, according to a statement released to WLWT.


"Kings Island has removed the celebrity scene from its Halloween Haunt event. We were not intending to be distasteful, and we apologize if we offended anyone,” Kings Island spokesman Don Helbig said in the statement.

Helbig could not be reached for comment on the McNair display, which shows a skeleton wearing a jersey numbered 9 sitting on a couch with another skeleton sprawled in its lap. The jersey-clad skeleton holds a Tennessee Titans helmet with the top sheared off of it.

The McNair skeleton caused an uproar, particularly in Nashville, where McNair played most of his career and was killed on July 4. Police said that Kazemi shot McNair to death before killing herself.

Other preview photos of similar displays showed skeletons resembling Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Farrah Fawcett, Dave Thomas, Sonny Bono and Ted Williams.










Nothing says Halloween like the fake skeleton of an NFL quarterback murdered by his mistress. At least that was the initial opinion of King's Island Amusement Park -- because, as part of their Halloween Haunt show, a skeleton depicting Steve McNair wearing a No. 9 jersey and holding a Titans helmet with the top blown off was on display, an apparent reference to the two bullet wounds McNair suffered on the night he died. As if that weren't enough, a skeleton depiction of Sahel Kazemi, McNair's 20-year old mistress who Nashville police have said murdered the football star in the early morning hours of July 4, 2009, lies across the McNair skeleton's lap, wearing a piece of slinky red lingerie.

Videos of the display emerged courtesy of a sneak peak given to WLVT in Cincinnati and immediately drew intense scrutiny.

In the display, the McNair figure sits on a couch, assuming the same position in which he was murdered, and the Kazemi figure rests on its lap. At the skeletons' feet, a gun lies on the ground. The couple are just two of the familiar faces included in the Haunt: A skeleton depicting Heath Ledger is shown surrounded by bottles of pills (Ledger overdosed in January 2008), and a skeleton is dressed like Michael Jackson in pajamas. But it's McNair's image alongside his mistress that has the city of Nashville horrified.

George Plaster, the host of Nashville's highest rated radio show at 104.5 The Zone, reacted with outrage. So did the callers on his show Wednesday evening. "I don't think the city is going to take it well at all," Plaster said, "This is a city that prides itself on having some taste and values, and I just can't see anything about what they're doing that has any good taste at all. I was shocked and totally appalled, and I think most people in Nashville are as well."

Kings Island is located 24 miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio, roughly 260 miles from the city of Nashville. It is the second-most visited seasonal theme park in America, behind Cedar Point, and the park does a Halloween-themed event each year. This year's Halloween Haunt debuts on September 25 and runs for 16 nights through Halloween. The Web site advises parents: "Halloween Haunt includes graphic scenes, suggestive themes, and intense imagery and is intended for mature audiences; not recommended for children. No one and nothing is off limits!"

Including an NFL quarterback and his murdering mistress.

When reached by FanHouse, a spokesperson for Kings Island, Don Helbig, said the following, "There will not be a scene at our Halloween event that features Steve McNair or anyone that resembles him."

With video and pictures of the skeletons circulating online, Helbig at first declined to acknowledge that they had ever existed. "There was no reference to Steve McNair at all. No jersey, nothing." Upon being informed that the pictures and video were already online, Helbig again insisted that the skeletons would not be featured on Friday when the event opens. Pressed as to when the skeletons were removed from the park, Helbig stuck to his talking points. "Our event does not open until Friday," he said, "We meant him no disrespect"[b]

Good thing those were removed. Definately in bad taste.

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

MESSED UP!

BRUTAL!!

Hilarious. Damn whining pussies.

lazycrockett said:

I can take a crude joke,,,,but this is retarded

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone


Lady Day

Harlepolis said:

I can take a crude joke,,,,but this is retarded

All this is just another example of just how crazy and insane Halloween really is. No matter how one may try to dress it up or down...it's just down right demonic. Twisted twitts.

How rude.

And yet...

connorhawke said:

lazycrockett said:

Hilarious. Damn whining pussies.

Hilarious? What if it was a caricature of your mother or wife or husband or something?

What a foolish thing to say....

What they really should have done is put MJ in a bed with a couple of smaller skeletons and titled it a "Better than heaven".

lazycrockett said:

Interesting to see this has been removed. (The haunted attraction, not the thread which is obviously still there.)


http://prince.org/msg/100/319677

Genesia said:

How rude.

And yet...

JustErin said:

BRUTAL!!

Nothinbutjoy said:

newpower99 said:

Billmenever said:

Mean spirited.

no respect at all

That's kinda cold.

disgraceful.

uPtoWnNY said:

lazycrockett said:

What they really should have done is put MJ in a bed with a couple of smaller skeletons and titled it a "Better than heaven".

Sleep long; sleep well, only to awake in hell.