A good fairy tale gone bad

Posted at 5:04 PM on January 12, 2011 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Media

It was only a matter of time before we in the media kicked over that pedestal that we put Ted Williams on. He's the homeless guy with the great voice who, up until six people got killed at an Arizona grocery store, was the obsession of the news media.

After getting into a domestic altercation with his daughter the other day, Williams, who had told the media last week that he's sobered up and is clean, is heading for rehab. He's admitted that he's still drinking.

There were a lot of opportunities for the media to take a serious look at the story they were building last week -- the difficulty of reintegrating into a non-homeless world, the likelihood that he was being used by companies throwing around job offers, the problems dealing with fame -- and the media would have none of it. It would have ruined the fairy tale that never actually existed. Escaping homelessness is more complicated.

In other news, Ted Williams is getting a dental makeover:

Comments (2)

Oh, no--this is such a surprise! I wish it had been true.

Posted by Momkat | January 12, 2011 11:14 PM

There's still a chance that this story has its fairy tale ending. As you say the it's a complicated process. I hope that Mr Williams is successful on his journey and that he let's people know that he is.

Posted by JackU | January 13, 2011 8:56 AM

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