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Friday, May 28, 2010

Boob-Slapping Wedding DJ Didn't Get Paid for Show, Might Sue Video Maker - Urlesque Interview

From: http://www.urlesque.com/

boob-slapping wedding dj
With 2.8 million views and counting, "Worst Wedding DJ EVER!" (A bit hyperbolic, but that's beside the point) continues to make the rounds of meme sites and inboxes around the world (even inspiring its own Funny or Die parody video with Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn). But questions remain: Who is this magical DJ? Why was this filmed? Is this common at weddings and we were just too drunk to notice? And was this another example, as some have suspected, of viral marketing disguised as reality? Or, was it just a fortuitous case of being in the right place at the right time? Urlesque tracked down Bob (not his real name), the wedding videographer and "Fast Eddie," the DJ himself, to find out more about this surreal video.

To get the obvious question out of the way, this was not a viral marketing stunt arranged by some corporation to bring eyeballs to their site. According to Bob, "Nothing was faked about it and nothing was staged. It was 100% a moment captured in reality that was bizarre and unexpected... This was an one-time fluke."

The incident took place Saturday, May 8 at a wedding in Daytona Beach, FL. Fast Eddie (he declined to disclose his last name) runs an upholstery business in Daytona Beach and has been an independent DJ and singer in the Florida area since 1993. We'll let him describe the circumstances leading up to The Slap Heard 'Round the Net.
I tease and joke around a lot. I always have something silly to say. I wasn't aware of me being taped and the wedding was actually over at the time this had happened. The bride and groom had left--there were just a bunch of drunks hanging around--and we were wrapping things up. I didn't mean any disrespect to the young lady. She's a friend of mine. We're not a couple, but we've been friends for years. She helps me out a bit when I do weddings. To be honest, when someone told me what I did at that wedding, I didn't even remember it. It wasn't rehearsed or planned. I've always been that way.
What inspired Bob to keep the camera on in the first place?

"When the conga line started, I wasn't shooting, but I felt that that was something I should capture," says the videographer. "I followed the line as they went around to the front of the room and as I looked past the line, I saw [Eddie] get to the microphone and start singing and slurring all of his words. So I left the camera on him because I thought that he would probably be doing something crazy. When he walked over to his assistant, I was getting ready to hit the Off button on my camera and then he started to play the bongos on her. As far as I know, I think I am the only person who saw it. Possibly the little girl in the foreground too, but she'll likely need therapy now."



After filming the incident and overdubbing Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" over the original sound, Bob uploaded the tape to YouTube for the sole purpose of showing the bride and groom--friends of his--what he felt was inappropriate behavior. The couple promptly stopped payment on Eddie's check. "I told them I'd upload the footage and if they canceled the check, they could send him this clip to tell him why," says Bob. "That was the whole motivation. It was only by people finding out on their own and passing it around that it blew up so big." Bob insists he only sent the video to Break.com and even that submission was rejected numerous times until it had already become a viral sensation.

As for the Stardust Entertainment banner seen in the video, Eddie claims that was just "a name somebody had stuck up there on the board for me." (Though it hasn't stopped a different Stardust Entertainment in Fort Wayne, IN from posting a disclaimer distancing themselves from the video on their site.)

Since its upload on May 10, the video has been featured on truTV, Web Soup and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. And while Fast Eddie is enjoying his moment--"I'm not the least bit embarrassed or ashamed of what I did cause that's just my personality"--he's not exactly pleased with Bob, accusing the videographer of profiting off his likeness and going so far as to contemplate legal action against the cameraman.

"I believe I've got a legal issue with the gentleman that took my video," says Eddie. "I was paid for one show and not the others and somebody has to get paid and it wasn't me. In the long run, he's going to be in a lot of deep s**t over it."

Legal action aside, Fast Eddie hasn't decided whether to capitalize on the viral video or let it fade off into the sunset. He remains bemused by the whole thing.
One guy called me in Minnesota and said he'd fly me out from Daytona Beach. I just can't imagine someone wanting to pay for all that. Would I do it? If the guy paid me enough money, sure. But will it really happen? Hell, I don't know. A lot of local people want me to come to their karaoke show and sing a song with their band. They'll say, 'Bring that girl with you and do it for us.' But that's not what it was. It wasn't a routine or anything.

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