"He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt."

February 8, 2011 12:28 PM

Mark Wahlberg: a disturbing legacy? HBO's dramedy Entourage, produced by Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson, and based loosely on Wahlberg's experiences as a rising Hollywood star, is rumored to be in its eighth and final season of syndication. Like other products of the movie and tv industry, claims have been made that its "whitewashed" cast does not reflect the situation that inspired it. A minority cast member has also claimed to harassment on the set, being the target of racial and homophobic jokes. A Movie Line article wryly notes this does nothing about the racist and homophobic jokes already written into the script. Perhaps the most disturbing revelation, however, is Wahlberg's own troubled past, in which he threw rocks at African American children, causing injuries, and later gouged out the eye of a Vietnamese immigrant, and attacked a security guard, hurling racial epithets on each occasion.
posted by The ____ of Justice (36 comments total)

Doesn't he have to atone for 'Good Vibrations' first?
posted by fixedgear at 12:36 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's well know and much discussed in Greater Boston that Marky Mark is essentially one of the more disgusting characters from Michael Patrick MacDonald's All Souls except that he has great wealth and, most importantly, a publicist.
posted by Mayor Curley at 12:37 PM on February 8, 2011

... So the difference in time between his last known unproved attack and when he said he said "So I don't have a problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning" is 14 years.

I actually am a big believer in (non religious) redemptive stories. Those are the best things about humanity, the ability to change and make amends. I see little to nothing to suggest ole Marky Mark really falls into this category. And honestly if I pulled the shit he did I think a decade and a half is awfully soon to start talking about forgiving oneself. Especially when you don't make personal amends to those you actually harmed.. not starting some self named charity when your rich enough to do so.
posted by edgeways at 12:40 PM on February 8, 2011

So does this mean no Marky Mark Day this year?
posted by briank at 12:41 PM on February 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

Gosh, I wouldn't have expected the host of Antiques Roadshow to have such a sordid past.
posted by theodolite at 12:42 PM on February 8, 2011 [12 favorites]

Isn't it an article of liberal faith that bad people can change, given the right indoctrination?
posted by oncogenesis at 12:42 PM on February 8, 2011

and later gouged out the eye of a Vietnamese immigrant

If you follow the link, it says that Wahlberg punched him in the eye.
posted by hermitosis at 12:43 PM on February 8, 2011

This is news? Much of it has been in The Smoking Gun's archives for over a decade. But now that I know he's responsible for Entourage, I'm not sure which is his most egregious offense.
posted by yerfatma at 12:43 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Forty-five days for an eye? Maybe if the sentencing involved a spoon. How do you skate out with less than two months for taking away someone's eye?
posted by adipocere at 12:44 PM on February 8, 2011

I mean, I know the eye was lost, but that's still a lot different than gouging someone's eye out.
posted by hermitosis at 12:44 PM on February 8, 2011

I've never made it past two minutes of Entourage.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 12:46 PM on February 8, 2011 [3 favorites]

So something he did 23 years ago is being held against him now because a show that he is the executive producer of -- which is pretty much a ceremonial title, because the show was very loosely inspired by Wahlberg's early years in Hollywood -- that has been accused, without evidence, of casting based on race, and because some of the cast members are racist and homophobic, which the showrunner says there will be no tolerance of?

I can't speak to racism of homophobia in the show's dialogue, because I don't watch it. It may be, as some of the commenters claim, that the dialogue is meant to make the racist or homophobic character look foolish. If not -- well, I would welcome an FPP on casual hatefulness on modern television, as I think there's quite a lot of it. But I find the Wahlberg connection to be a stretch, at best.

I mean, maybe he still is the enraged 16-year-old Southie he once was. But this FPP shows no evidence of it. He did date China Chow, for whatever that's worth, and he's executive producer of How to Make It In America, which features a Dominican actor, an African-American actor, and a Mexican actor in three of the lead roles.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:48 PM on February 8, 2011 [3 favorites]

Hermitosis--thanks for the correction, I was reporting from a different link. The accounts of the assault differ. But I'll email the mods to edit the post to match what seems to be the offical account.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 12:50 PM on February 8, 2011

I mean, I know the eye was lost, but that's still a lot different than gouging someone's eye out.

Popping an eye out of the socket is very disturbing to the recipient, and slows them down considerably due to shock and horror. But it can usually be popped back in without too much damage. Losing an eye, by whatever means, is permanent. Eye-gouging has been forbidden in almost every form of extreme fighting since antiquity, because it is easy to execute, and puts an end to the fun right there. That's why rape-prevention self defense classes train people to do it.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:50 PM on February 8, 2011

Really. This is pretty thin, not to mention -- stone cold -- gruel. What, you didn't like The Fighter or something?
posted by thinkpiece at 12:50 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Um, I've been aware of Marky Mark for far far too long and up until some time in the recent past, maybe five years? Ten? He's become something less than an outwardly repugnant figure. Whenever I see him I don't even think of Mary Mark the Calvin Klein underwear model/ call boy, I think of the thug-kid... Who thought he was any kind of 'angel?' or at least, when was it forgotten that he came from a less-than suburban wholesome background?
posted by From Bklyn at 12:52 PM on February 8, 2011

Let's do Michael Vick next.
posted by fixedgear at 12:52 PM on February 8, 2011

Isn't it an article of conservative faith that bad people can never change and must be punished forever, or given enough financial incentive to come correct?

Seems Mr. Wahlberg has enough coin now that he must be good!
posted by three blind mice at 12:52 PM on February 8, 2011

Are you saying there might be racist kids in Dorchester?!
posted by rusty at 12:54 PM on February 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

Um, I've been aware of Marky Mark for far far too long and up until some time in the recent past, maybe five years? Ten? He's become something less than an outwardly repugnant figure. Whenever I see him I don't even think of Mary Mark the Calvin Klein underwear model/ call boy, I think of the thug-kid... Who thought he was any kind of 'angel?' or at least, when was it forgotten that he came from a less-than suburban wholesome background?


Sorry, what?
posted by tigrefacile at 12:55 PM on February 8, 2011

I didn't know he had done these things. It's been a long time and he's probably changed. Guess what though, if you cause me to lose eyesight in one eye you've fucked up big time and I would hate you forever. Yeah he goes to sleep untroubled because that's the way the mind works. It minimizes the past. However, that's not necessarily the case with physical injuries.
posted by josher71 at 12:55 PM on February 8, 2011

this post is crap
posted by Avenger50 at 12:55 PM on February 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

(The above joke might only be funny to people from Massachusetts, but I assure you, it's very funny.)
posted by rusty at 12:56 PM on February 8, 2011

Popping an eye out of the socket is very disturbing to the recipient, and slows them down considerably due to shock and horror. But it can usually be popped back in without too much damage.

Wait, really?
posted by theodolite at 12:56 PM on February 8, 2011

FIAMO, Avenger50
posted by josher71 at 12:56 PM on February 8, 2011

I'm sorry, but if this post is trying to make a case, it is pretty damn thin. The article linked have little to no meat. Give me a true insider run down on Marky Mark's racism and then I'll start caring.

While there are homophobic and racist comments on Entourage, I always viewed them as part of the storyline - Ari is a total ass that is so over the top his whole goal is to make you feel uncomfortable and the entourage is made up of moderately clueless boys playing at being men.

Wahlberg is also an executive producer on episodes of Boardwalk Empire (which has a whole sub-plot regarding black America) and In Treatment. Probably the breakthrough role for Marky was Boogie Nights. During one scene his character (which appears to be heterosexual) is engaging in essentially homosexual prostitution. That scene might have started and stopped there, suggesting a negative view towards homosexuality, but it morphs when the John turns out to be with a group of gay bashing thugs - transforming the scene into a sad commentary on homophobia.

I just have trouble based on these various bits of superficial facts labeling the present day guy as a racist homophobe. Maybe more evidence will prove otherwise.
posted by Muddler at 12:58 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wait, if we ascribe all the lazy faults of Entourage to Mark, don't we also have to give him accolades for Boardwalk Empire?
posted by boubelium at 12:59 PM on February 8, 2011

Wahlberg was a Dot rat as a teen- I thought everyone knew this. The story about the eyehas been on his wikipedia page for years. I'd like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, that he truly has reformed and become a better person, but maybe it's just because I like his acting.
posted by emd3737 at 1:00 PM on February 8, 2011

>>
Forty-five days for an eye? Maybe if the sentencing involved a spoon. How do you skate out with less than two months for taking away someone's eye?

I'd like to know too.
posted by K.P. at 1:00 PM on February 8, 2011

He did date China Chow, for whatever that's worth

Anti-racism is not communicable by sex, I'm sorry to say. Otherwise that whole slavery thing would have evaporated right quick on it's own.
posted by yeloson at 1:04 PM on February 8, 2011

Ever since I heard that Marky Mark was going to plant a celebrity tree I believed he was trying to use his popularity for a good cause. I guess Clueless lied to me.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:04 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Does anybody have any evidence of racist behavior from him from the past decade? Maybe he's clever at hiding it, but, as Mel Gibson has shown, that sort of stuff tends to leak out.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:04 PM on February 8, 2011

...rumored to be in its eighth and final season of syndication

You mean it's in its eighth season of its original run, which is rumored to be its last. It's fact, not rumor, that it's the eighth season. (And I'm not sure it's technically in first-run syndication; HBO produces it and that's where it airs in original broadcast. It is syndicated now, but that's has no bearing on the season.)
posted by me3dia at 1:04 PM on February 8, 2011

Anti-racism is not communicable by sex, I'm sorry to say.

Oh, I know; that's why I included the phrase "for what it's worth." It was meant to be one example of many of the fact that he seems to enjoy a lot of personal and professional relationships with minorities right now, but I got sick of doing research to disprove something that, instead, the accuser is obligated to prove.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:05 PM on February 8, 2011

There are no second acts in American lives. As a brilliant novelist turned failed drunken screenwriter once observed.
posted by tigrefacile at 1:06 PM on February 8, 2011

Mary Mark the Calvin Klein underwear model

I know this is a typo, but given how well-known it is that Mark Wahlberg hated, once he went semi-serious actor being called "Marky Mark", I can't stop grinning thinking about how much he'd hate being called Mary Mark.

And "Mary Mark and the Funky Bunch" is about the funniest thing I can imagine.

But I tend to agree that the case for him as 'worst person ever' isn't exactly being made here. I'm not saying that what he did wasn't repugnant. But as someone of a similar age, I'm sure glad I'm not being judged on the first half of my life.

And unless Entourage has gotten a lot worse since the first three or four seasons, the homophobia and racism, to me, was always as a joke on the homophobic and/or racist. Like the rest of the humor, it didn't often work. But in my opinion, the show was also pretty misogynist -- or actually fairly misanthropic if you want to look at it a big larger. But I don't know how much that has to do with Mark Wahlberg's connection to the program's creative or financial end.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:06 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]