Hall Canceled Again, This Time by CNN

CNN’s coverage of President Clinton’s speech Monday night temporarily went awry when a reporter attempted to get celebrity reaction at Morton’s restaurant in West Hollywood and instead got a manic interview with Arsenio Hall, which included a live on-air profanity.

Hall, whose former talk show once featured then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton playing the saxophone, had been recruited along with actor-author Ben Stein and songwriter Diane Warren to talk with CNN reporter Charles Feldman.

But Hall bounded around the restaurant’s entryway and refused to take a serious tone, and when Feldman mentioned Clinton’s appearance on his show, Hall joked that people were blaming him for everything from Clinton’s woes to the recent cancellation of “The Magic Hour,” hosted by Hall’s friend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

“I’m sick of people f------ with me,” Hall said.

After the profanity, Feldman quickly cut the segment short, adding that if Stein and Warren had gotten an opportunity to speak, he was sure they would have been “very interesting.”

Repeats of the segment were removed from CNN’s coverage later that evening. Hall and his representatives could not be reached for comment Tuesday.