"...it's not technically work."
There are tears in the Turpel household tonight. The Guerrero one too. Chris Cote is trying to be brave but his adorable glasses are fogging up and Mitch Salazar is gently rocking himself underneath a palapa, quietly muttering “Estoy triste. Estoy muy triste.” For, hours ago, their life’s work was brutally torn down and dumped in a soggy pile.
Surf broadcasting declared not a real job by the talented and beautiful Scarlett Johansson.
The issue was raised during a sit down between the award-winning actress and the Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie. Johansson’s husband Colin Jost, you recall, will be calling the surfing portion of the Olympic Games from Tahiti. The Black Widow shared, “Even I’m like, ‘How did you get this gig?’ I just want to know.”
“When they announced the Paris Olympics he immediately found out that the surf competition [is] in Tahiti which is so cool. He loves to surf, we have a place in Montauk, he’s always out there surfing. Somehow the dream became a reality, and now he’s going to be in Tahiti for two weeks. I’m like, ‘Poor you.’ He’s like, ‘Poor me I’m going to be all over the place. ‘I’m like, are you? I think if you can have a piña colada on air while you’re working it’s not technically work.”
Not technically work.
Etc.
And while I do feel bad for the boys in the booth, I can’t help but worry after my own profession of surf journalism. I know the amount of toil that Derek Rielly, Jen See, JP Currie put in. The time in that proverbial salt mine. I can only hope Scarlett Johansson can see it and understand.
Lighting a candle.
More as the story develops.