ANTI-GAY HEAVY METAL PREACHER SUING RACHEL MADDOW FOR FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS
Reverend Bradlee Dean is a so-called “heavy metal preacher,” and as you can see from the above photo of him in his youth, he’s also an incredibly cool guy. (Here and here are pictures of what he looks like now. He’s living proof of the theory that men only get more handsome with age!) For an example of his incredible coolness, peep this: last year, he was allowed to give the opening prayer at the Minnesota House of Representatives — on a day when a gay marriage amendent was scheduled to be debated, no less — and he concluded said prayer by not-very-subtly implying that a) President Obama is not a Christian, and b) that is bad:
“I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this Chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans. Or the Presbyterians, the evangelicals or any other denomination but rather the head of the denomination and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name.”
So, yeah, this dude is just made of pure awesomeness.
And he just got awesomer: he’s now suing liberal commentator Rachel Maddow and the network on which she appears, MSNBC, for fifty million bucks, because Ms. Maddow a) pointed out that he’s a bigoted piece of turd and b) made fun of the ridiculous way he spells the name “Bradley.” From New York magazine:
Dean’s fury at Maddow stems from her August 9, 2010 show, on which she spoke about Dean and his ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. The segment involved Maddow playing a clip of Dean saying this:
“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”
Then Maddow read the disclaimer he attached to that statement, clarifying that he “will never call for the execution of homosexuals” himself.
But Mother Jones is quick to point out the real punch line, which is that Maddow referred to Dean as “Bradlee with two E’s” multiple times, and because of that, Dean’s lawsuit alleges that Maddow “outrageously disparaged Bradlee Dean’s physical appearance, his first name and his profession as a heavy metal entertainer and his standing in the community.”
And, oh yeah, P.S., in case you’re curious, no, “Bradlee” is not this super-kewl dood’s real name. His real name is Bradley. With one “E.”
(And I think it’s important to note that Maddow is incredibly metal-friendly — see examples here, here, and here — so it’s not like she was just picking on Dean because she thinks all of metaldom is bad or whatever. She was picking on him because he deserves to be picked on.)
So in all seriousness, this dude is a tool, and he gives metal a bad name. His attorney, a fine gentleman named Larry Klayman, thinks that the lawsuit “will probably end the career of Rachel Maddow,” but he also believes in an imaginary man in the sky who creates everything and hates gay people, so I’m thinking Ms. Maddow probably ain’t too worried about it. This is gonna get tossed out of court in record time.
-AR
Additional reporting by Corey Mitchell
