Hall of Shame Update: Richard Hatch Uses Scooter Libby Case to Again Claim Innocence

The worlds of politics and reality TV do not often coincide, except with the occasional politician criticizing some stupid thing or another (as when some know-nothing politicians attacked Survivor: Cook Islands before a single episode had been broadcast). Recently, though, imprisoned original Survivor winner Richard Hatch tried to use politics to highlight what he claims is a horrible miscarriage of justice against himself.

As you probably know, Hatch was inducted into the Reality TV Hall of Shame for his post-Survivor behavior. Specifically, he was convicted of failure to pay taxes on his million-dollar Survivor prize, $327,000 he earned from a radio show, and $28,000 in rental income.

Within that induction article, I noted, “Hatch has shown his egotism time and time again.” Well, he’s at it again.

Scooter Libby, the one-time presidential and vice presidential aide convicted of perjury had his prison sentence commuted by President Bush. This provoked quite a bit of outcry, which I’ll leave to political sites to discuss. But it also provoked a response from Hatch, of all people.

Hatch e-mailed Boston.com’s Joanna Weiss to ask (presumably rhetorically), “Where's my pardon/commutation?” He continued, saying if Bush thought Libby’s sentence was too harsh, he needs to examine “what bigoted and otherwise biased judges are doing every day all over the country.” He suggested they begin with the judge who sentenced him to a 51-month sentence, thus apparently hinting that judge is “bigoted” – though I have no idea what his evidence for such a claim may be. Well, other than that he sentenced Hatch, which of course makes him evil and wrong in Hatch’s eyes.

Indeed, Weiss writes that Hatch recently sent out another e-mail in which he compared himself to a witch in Salem. To this I can only say: Sorry, Rich, but your case has nothing at all in common with the Salem Witch Trials. You were convicted based on solid evidence. Deal with it. Or if you want to argue about it because you're appealing, fine, but comparing yourself to the Salem Witch Trials is still ridiculous.

But Hatch isn’t dealing with it at all, which is the reason for this update here at the Reality TV Hall of Shame. Because of his pending appeal, I suppose he can't simply admit he was wrong because of all the evidence stacked up against him. But he still continues his ridiculous claims that he caught producers cheating and therefore they promised to pay his taxes; that he was waiting for the IRS to tell him how much was owed; etc. He even had the gall to complain that “nobody has expressed much interest in most of what has occurred or is true in my case.” In that, he is incorrect. There was quite a bit of interest during his case, and we all saw what was true – it just wasn’t what he claimed!

He still claims, “I am absolutely innocent,” despite the weight of evidence to the contrary. Again, the pending appeal means he can't say anything other than that, but he doesn't have to say anything at all, and should probably just shut up already. Then again, he will probably continue to claim his innocence beyond his appeal and even far past when he is released from jail. Hatch’s ego got him into this mess, but he still doesn’t have it under control.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/Reality TV Hall of Shame e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on these sites! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of the shows in the Hall of Shame listed here, all of the people who have been inducted can be found here, and click here for the Hall of Shame Moments.

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out RealityNewsOnline and SirLinksALot!