In this outstanding clip edited from MSNBC's coverage, O.J. Simpson's attorney Yale Galanter is assisted at a press conference by a gentleman who seems to have recently joined the team. It appears that Galanter will provide the legal talent, and New Guy will provide the moral support.
New Guy, as you may know, is actually Tony Barbieri, a comedian who plays a character named "Jake Byrd" who tries to insert himself into celebrity events like he's done here. I know this not because I watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live," where "Jake Byrd" frequently appears, but because I research my stories, unlike, apparently, the New York Times, which got fooled by Byrd during the Michael Jackson trial, and had to run this correction:
Editor's Note: May 6, 2004, Thursday
An article on Saturday about a hearing in which the entertainer Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty to felony charges involving sexual abuse of a teenage boy described fans who came to see Mr. Jackson. They included a man who identified himself as Jake Byrd, an employee of a tropical fish store in Chino, Calif. After the article appeared, a publicist for the ABC television show ‘‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’’ said the man was actually an actor playing a recurring character, a rabid Jackson fan named Jake Byrd. The publicist would not reveal the name of the actor, known for stunts that insinuate him into news coverage.
I was hoping this was an actual crazy guy who just wanted to get on camera, but this is still pretty darn good. Anything that increases the circus quotient of an O.J. criminal case is good news for me.
Link: Awesomeology.com
Link: New York Times, May 1, 2004
