Larry King said he would have “no interest” in interviewing Charlie Sheen if he were still doing his CNN talk show.
“Egypt, Japan, Iraq, Libya, that’s what intrigues me,” King told The Hollywood Reporter, “not Charlie Sheen.”
Asked how he thinks Piers Morgan is doing in his old job, King indicated he thinks the Brit replacement is doing well, though he believes the network made a mistake by “over ballyhooing” him as being “dangerous.”
“He’s not dangerous,” said King. “He’s a nice guy.”
King was at the opening reception for the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company in Beverly Hills. He works as the self-serve, restaurant/bakery chain’s spokesman. He said a deal was brokered through attorney Bert Fields for him to be, in his words, “a bagel entrepreneur” and receive a percentage of the chain’s profits. “I didn’t do anything,” was the way he described his part in setting up the business.
The Delray Beach, Fla.-based company’s signature system is to take tap water; filter it through a 14-stage process; re-mineralize it to the exact taste and smell of Brooklyn water sans lead, fluoride and pharmaceutical traces (they call the resulting liquid “Brooklynized”); then use it to make bagels.
“Larry is the most recognized face from Brooklyn,” said CEO Steven Fassberg. “And we’re the taste of Brooklyn.”
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King credited his 25 years on CNN for making him recognizable enough to become a nationwide bagel spokesperson. He quoted Frank Sinatra, who once said to him, “there’s a lot to be said for longevity.” He said the restaurant/bakery job would be in addition to his upcoming comedy tour and he’d be playing Las Vegas on June 11.
Having King as a spokesperson will help the company differentiate itself from the Brooklyn Bagel Bakery, a primarily wholesale business that’s been in Los Angeles since 1953 and supplies bagels to, among others, Cantor’s, Langer’s and Nate ‘n’ Al’s, which is where King regularly dines.
The Brooklyn Bagel Bakery uses L.A. water and says it’s been doing fine with it for 58 years. “I don’t think water is an issue,” said owner Richard Friedman. “It isn’t Coors beer. It’s bagels.”
