HOLLYWOOD -- Do the same rules of conduct apply to a half man as they do to a full-grown man?
Apparently they would, considering the carefully-worded statement issued by Angus T. Jones in the wake of a viral YouTube video in which the 19-year-old Two and a Half Men co-star asserted his devout Christian faith by denouncing his bread and butter as "filth" and urging viewers to stop watching it.
Late Tuesday afternoon Jones addressed the controversy in the form of a written act of contrition, explaining he never intended for his remarks to "reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed."
While not quite a retraction, you can bet Jones's apology had the fingerprints of an entertainment attorney all over it, given the show's previous handling of another highly-paid detractor.
As with all network productions, the popular CBS sitcom requires its talent to sign an iron-clad contract that prohibits them from publicly making negative comments about the show.
Like Charlie Sheen before him, Jones could have potentially found himself in breach of contract for dissing the sitcom he has been on since he was nine years of age, and for which he currently gets paid roughly $350,000 an episode.
Both CBS and the show's production company, Warner Bros. Television, haven't issued a comment regarding Jones's rant, but it's unlikely any punitive action will be taken in light of his apology, not to mention his young age and the fact that the sitcom remains a consistent ratings-grabber.
Ironically, while the actor is currently under contract until the end of the current 2012-2013 season, he wasn't scheduled to appear on the show's next two episodes, which might have prompted some to wonder about his character's possible demise, what with Sheen's final exit two seasons earlier.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with sharing your religious beliefs with the world. When last we looked, Jones and his crusade against the devil, posted by the Forerunner Chronicles, a Seventh Day Adventist church, had logged over 1.5 million YouTube views Tom Cruise, for one, memorably appeared in a leaked Scientology video, rambling on about his ideology of choice. Mind you, over the course of those nine minutes, never once did he look into the camera and urge his fans not to attend his movies. As one industry wag put it, wonder if Angus is putting his money where his collection plate is? Can we get two and a half amens?
More blog postings
