Probst has a tax exemption for being
extra awesome.
The 20th cycle of Survivor is doing something special to commemorate the series' tenth year on the air -- it's putting together a sort of All-Star game. CBS will be recruiting past contestants to put each others' torches out, so bringing on the first winner of the show is a logical choice. There's just one problem: he's a convicted criminal.
Richard Hatch, one of reality television's first polarizing (and naked) figures, was convicted of tax evasion for failing to give the government a cut of the one million dollars he won on the first edition of Survivor. He served three years in jail and is currently finishing out his sentence under house arrest in Rhode Island.
CBS invited Hatch to participate in the upcoming edition, which is set to film in Samoa, and Hatch asked a federal judge to lift his punishment so he could join in on the fun. He promised to use any money won during the show to help pay tax penalties and insisted he wouldn't run off and avoid his legal obligations in a foreign country.
The judge's response to Hatch's request: Nope!
Federal judge William Smith dropped the hammer on Friday, according to Reuters, thus destroying viewers' dreams of watching Hatch and season 18's Coach try to out-slay each other. Way to be a damper, Smith!
Comments (9)
Hmm, isn't 19 the next season? What's this talk about the 20th season?
ha ha ha ha
Isn't this like the 3rd or 4th All Star edition, Hopefully they don't ask Johnny Fairplay back, he quit last time.
Not a Hatch fan, so I say good riddance.I wonder if any of the All Stars that came back right after Pearl Islands will come back again (for a third trip)? Of course, many of today's fans of the show wouldn't even remember most of those folks, and besides, what makes the show interesting and thus made the characters interesting was their interactions with others. Would Hatch be as memorable if it hadn't been for Sue? Would Tina have done so well without her Colby? The only "old timer" I would really like to see play the game TODAY is Rupert.
Good. It's about time a judge ruled to keep a celebrity (well psudo-celebrity ) in their alloted punisment, rather than bowing to the star and letting them off to do what they wish by ending it early.
What ever there is plenty of people they can bring back. They don't need him.
Oh please dont bring back Coach!
Wow, that's a pretty full on conviction for not paying taxes. 3 years imprisonment!?!? Just make him pay it all back with interest.
Thats right. We tax paying citizens wouldn't want him to help pay off any of his back taxes and help us out! Better to leave him at home where he can't do anything to pay us back! It's not like his checks couldn't be attached by the governement or something. lol