Jerry Lewis' Bitter Battle With Muscular Dystrophy Charity Revealed: Why Do-Gooder Bosses Dumped 'Egomaniac'
Insiders reveal the real reason Jerry Lewis was axed from his longtime telethon hosting gig.
Nov. 8 2024, Published 7:45 p.m. ET
Comedic legend Jerry Lewis' bitter battle with a children' muscular dystrophy charity has been exposed.
RadarOnline.com can reveal why Lewis was suddenly ousted from hosting the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association's telethon in 2011.
The ego-crazed comedian was said to have exploded in a fit of rage and threatened the charity's president over program cuts and control of the TV fundraiser.
In a bombshell revelation, sources finally blew the lid off one of TV's longest-held secrets to reveal how frazzled Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) bosses finally showed Lewis the door after he had hosted the telethon for 45 years.
Lewis hosted the MDA telethon for 45 years.
Insiders claimed they were fed up with Lewis' bizarre antics and "mean spirited" behavior off-camera.
The Real Jerry Lewis Story author Rick Saphire said: "Jerry was very angry because the new president of the MDA made decisions without his input.
"They cut the time of the telethon without conferring with him and Jerry got into a heated battle with the president and said, 'You, and not the kids, belong in a f---ing wheelchair,' before he stormed out of the office.
"Right after that they gave Jerry his walking papers."
He was booted from hosting the program in 2011.
Making the control-freak comic's sudden, embarrassing departure worse, MDA executives were said to be afraid to let then-85-year-old Lewis – who helped raise over $2.6billion for the charity – go on live television to say goodbye to his faithful audience.
Saphire continued: "My sources disclosed that the organization did not trust him on live TV because Jerry had a record of saying inappropriate things.
"A vicious diatribe could have done irreparable damage to the image of the MDA."
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The comic, who died aged 91 in 2017, was eventually "forced" to make a prerecorded message since he had already blown up his goodwill with MDA bigwigs by his ugly antics, including uttering a gay slur on camera during the 2007 telethon.
Saphire, who knew Lewis from childhood and worked as his manager on and off for decades, added: "Jerry could be kind and generous, yet there was always the underlying tendency for him to be an unreasonable, spiteful brat.
"Just as he could not explain his comedic talents, he could not explain his compulsion to be mean-spirited."
Insiders claimed Lewis' clashed with MDA's president led to the organization cutting ties with him.
Lewis was once described as "evil" by his son Gary – and the comic even threatened fellow comedian Joan Rivers in the 1960s when she accused him of using disabled children as props, adding: "Jerry Lewis has to be thankful that he has the telethon, because it helps his career."
He responded to Rivers: "We never met and I'm looking forward to keeping it that way. If you find it necessary to discuss me or my kids ever again, I promise I will get someone from Chicago to beat your godd--- head off."
Rivers was said to be so freaked out, she didn't take any chances and hired security guards.
His childhood friend continued: "The Muscular Dystrophy telethon made him a beloved character.
"If it wasn't for the MDA Jerry would have been an unknown beginning about 1967 – his career would have been over.
"Jerry's behavior was no longer tolerated and he wasn't that important anymore. Joan Rivers was right – he was a lucky son of a b----."
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