15 minutes are up
It has been a rough and busy weekend. Glad to be back home and blogging. Let me get you up to speed:
Following the overwhelming launch of AV-wear and of the omarphillips.net edition of MadLibs, I decided to hire a manager. I was having trouble keeping up with all the requests for appearances and AV-wear gear. He lined up quite a weekend for me. First stop, Washington DC, where I met with Gannett to do a story for the USA Today online version:
(Kind of ironic that it ran next to a story involving 50 Cent. He was in town the same day, luckily we didn't run into each other.)
Next up was a trip to New York City. I did a quick interview for the Times before heading to a couple of back-to-back fashion shows.
Now here is where the story gets weird.
My manager had me set to MC a MadLibs convention at the Javits Convention Center, 3pm. So I get there 2:45 ish. There is a big crowd, cameras, way more than I expected. So I'm nervous, but I start getting into it as the convention goes on. About an hour in, they surprise me by announcing that I have won the "Garrett L. Stevenson MadLib Lifetime Achievement Award." What? Sure, I did a lot of MadLibs in my youth, but I've only created one, and it was last week. It seemed a bit fishy, but I humbly went back on stage to accept the award.
Out from behind the curtain comes the president of MadLibs of America (MLA), Garrett Stevenson III. The thing is, this kid is a dead ringer for Ashton Kutcher. I thought I was getting Punk'd.
Me: OH MAN, YOU GOT ME!! You had me going!! Now that I'm an A-list celeb, I get punk'd. Ha ha, lifetime achievement. Very funny.
Garrett III: Excuse me?
Me: It's over, Ash, you got me.
Garrett III: I'm sorry sir, but --
Me: Hey, it's over. Let's just cut it out, OK?
Garrett III: Mr. Phillips, I'm not sure what you're talking about.
I don't really take humiliation well, so I started getting mad. He kept denying it, so I punched him. A couple of times. And kicked him.
Long story short, it turns out that this guy really is someone named Garrett Stevenson III, and he is the president of MLA. And he sued me. Just like that, the AV-wear fortune is gone. My manager dropped me as a client. My remaining appearances, canceled. All I had left was my plane ticket home.
So here I am, back home. Heading to work tomorrow at 7 a.m. sharp. My boy still smiles at me, my wife still loves me, my Blogger login still works. But my 15 minutes of fame are done.
And so ends my best blog week ever.
Comments
Jon said:
Well that's a damn shame. I'm still going to wear the jogging suit. It's easily the most comfortable thing I own AND it fits like a glove. You really do nice work. Like I said, it's a damn shame. But you do still have the family intact, and in the end, that's really what's important. Of course, one question still remains... Do you get to keep the Madlibs lifetime achievement award?
cadiz12 said:
it really is too bad. however, i have a feeling that AV wear is really going to take off; who knows, all that publicity could tip off the right kind of investors to revive your empire. (hey, if oprah can save a restaurant based on a sandwich, anything is possible.) besides, i was really looking forward to my ring.
Sarah said:
And I my was looking forward to running your store. Surely all this press could work in your favour - I mean, any press is good press, right? It worked for Martha Stewart.
1GloriousConundrum said:
Need I remind you that bad press is the only press you need? I once insulted a vegan and it started everything good in my life...Managers only steal your cash. Hire a publicist to leak the story to the tabloids. Once people think you actually beat up Ashton, you'll be the next big thing. That punk has ticked off a lot of people in this town. (Justin Timberlake told me just the other day that if he ever found someone who brought Ash down a peg, he'd be willing to pay them big bucks...)
omar said:
I did actually keep the award. I left immediately after the "incident," but nobody thought to take the award away from me before I left. Suckers.