Dennis Rodman's classic meltdown on CNN
Television doesn't get any better than this.
Hall of Fame basketball player Dennis Rodman didn't much like the questions about his "basketball diplomacy" with North Korea coming from CNN host Chris Cuomo. So the former Detroit Pistons "bad boy" lit up the screen with a screaming tirade directed at Cuomo who only wanted to know if Rodman would bring up the case of American Kenneth Bae held for more than a year by the North Koreans for his missionary work.
Rodman is going back to North Korea with 10 former NBA players to play an all-star game. The volatile Rodman objected to any question not having to do with the trip.
In an interview with CNN New Day host Chris Cuomo, which aired Tuesday morning, Rodman went a step further, essentially accusing Bae of some unspecified offense, and bellowing his way through the balance of the interview.
Former NBA star Charles Smith, who had been acting as the group's spokesman to this point in the interview, tried his best to wrangle Rodman, but when Cuomo asked about Bae, an incensed Rodman waved Smith off.
"Are you going to take an opportunity, if you get it, to speak up for the family of Kenneth Bae and say, Let us know why this man is being held?' If you can help them, will you take the opportunity?" Cuomo asked.
"The one thing about politics, Kenneth Bae did one thing. If you understand - if you understand what Kenneth Bae did," Rodman said with a pause, then added "Do you understand what he did? In this country?"
"What did he do?" Cuomo said. "You tell me."
"You tell me," Rodman shouted. "You tell me. Why is he held captive?"
"They haven't released any charges," Cuomo said. "They haven't released any reason."
"I would love to speak on this," Rodman said, again waving Smith off.
"Go ahead," Cuomo urged.
Instead, Rodman went off on Cuomo for the remainder of the interview, screaming at him to recognize the sacrifice being made by his fellow players.
Kenneth Bae is an American citizen who has been held in North Korea since November of 2012, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison last April.
Rodman has always been known as a loose cannon (he showed up for a a promo for his book in a wedding dress), but this performance makes one doubt his mental stability. Cuomo seemed to be egging him on at one point, although Rodman certainly didn't need any encouragement.