Rudy Giuliani’s appearance on Wednesday night’s episode of “The Masked Singer” garnered the expected backlash and disapproval. The not-so-surprising unmasking of Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer also coincided with the show’s ratings plummeting to an all-time low.
The episode received a 0.6 demo rating and a total of 3.6 million total viewers, which is a recently recorded season low for “The Masked Singer,” according to Variety. By comparison, the show experienced a season high of 4.3 million viewers on March 30 and a 1.0 demo rating after the season premiere. On average, “The Masked Singer” has 4.1 million total viewers and a 0.7 rating among adult viewers ages 18-49.
RELATED: Rudy Giuliani Sings “Bad to the Bone” on “The Masked Singer”
Giuliani’s episode, which aired at 8:00 p.m. ET, was also outperformed by its cable show competitors sharing the same broadcast schedule. According to Variety’s report, the latest episodes of CBS’s “Survivor” had a 0.8 rating and drew 5.2 million viewers, while NBC’s “Chicago Med” had a 0.6 rating and drew 6 .5 million viewers.
It is still not clear why “The Masked Singer” decided to introduce Giuliani, who is both a self-declared anti-masker and a political figure involved in many scandals. It was most likely a ratings ploy, but clearly, the unpopular and divisive gimmick didn’t boost the show’s viewership. Such decisions probably won’t help the show in the long run either, as its ratings continue to trend down. The show already made a similar mistake in May 2020 when it introduced guest star Sarah Palin, who revealed herself as the cotton candy-like masked bear. Later, the politician tried explain your appearance, saying that he participated in the show as “a walking middle finger to the haters”. Palin, however, is relatively toothless compared to the damage Giuliani or Sean Spicer, who starred in “Dancing With the Stars,” perpetrated as part of the previous administration’s lackeys.
Can Fox, ABC and every other network that has a funny reality competition show stop trying to normalize these lackeys by kicking them out now?
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During Wednesday’s episode, Giuliani dressed as Jack in the Box and sang “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. His performance later caused judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke to leave the stage, albeit briefly.
“With all the controversy surrounding you right now, I think we’re all surprised that you’re here on ‘The Masked Singer,'” host Nick Cannon said. Giuliani simply replied, “Me too.”
Giuliani later said that the reason he agreed to be on “The Masked Singer” was because he wanted to set an example for his granddaughter, Grace.
“I want him to know that you have to try everything, even things that are completely different from you and unlikely,” Giuliani explained. “I couldn’t think of anything more different from me and unlikely than this. And I enjoy the show, have done it for years, and it seemed like it would be fun. I can’t have much fun.”
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