Rosie O'Donnell wants police to search John Grisham's computer hard drive. "The View" commentator called for the search after Grisham made remarks which she interpreted as defending men imprisoned for viewing child pornography, and she suggested he has something to hide.
Early last week in an interview with The Telegraph, John Grisham made some controversial comments which led to public outcry: "We have prisons now filled with guys my age -- 60-year-old white men -- in prison, who've never harmed anybody, would never touch a child, but they got online one night, started surfing around, probably had too much to drink or whatever, pushed the wrong buttons, went too far, and got into child porn."
Two days later, he issued the following apology: "Anyone who harms a child for profit or pleasure, or who in any way participates in child pornography -- online or otherwise -- should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. My comments made two days ago during an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children. I can think of nothing more despicable. I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all."
Rosie O'Donnell, however, isn't buying it. The controversial comedienne, actress, host and commentator returned to The View last month to much fanfare after the departures of show founder Barbara Walters, Jenny McCarthy, and comedienne Sherri Shepard, who famously announced on the show that she isn't sure if the world is round or flat. O'Donnell is no stranger to controversial opinions, and was brought back to the show to liven things up. On the Oct.17 episode of The View, she called for the author's computer hard drive to be searched by police.
"I was horrified by what he said," she announced in a roundtable discussion of the situation on the show's famous "hot topics" segment. "Did John Grisham feel like these people needed a champion and he was it?" She went on to claim that she accepts Grisham's apology, but added on the show that "I don't believe in your [expletive] bull crap thing that you said before. Nobody accidentally stumbles onto child pornography. If I were the police, I'd look at John Grisham's hard drive right now." Upon that comment, amid audience cheers, show moderator Whoopi Goldberg quickly cut to a commercial break, and when the show returned, the topic was not revisited.
Grisham is the author of legal thrillers such as "The Firm," "The Pelican Brief" and "A Time To Kill." He made the remarks to a British paper, The Telegraph, early last week as he was promoting his newest book, "Gray Mountain," which is set in Appalachia and looks at the impact of coal companies and mining.
