After unexpectedly dropping out of his Broadway play, Speed the Plow, citing mercury poisoning, Jeremy Piven convinced a group of fellow actors that he did not violate his contractual obligations on Thursday, thereby avoiding potential penalties for his high-profile departure.
You can read Piven’s official statement on the topic here, but here are some of my favorite excerpts:
Despite his worsening illness, Mr. Piven appeared in SPEED THE PLOW without missing a single performance during the show’s Previews and run for ten weeks, with glowing reviews. To do so, he underwent nearly daily care and treatment by multiple health care professionals at his own expense in order to combat his ongoing symptoms, which included extreme fatigue, spatial and balance problems, advancing neuroskeletal weakness, memory problems, difficulty breathing, and an alarmingly low resting heart rate. His treating physician repeatedly advised him to pull out of the show so that he could obtain the rest required to overcome his illness. Instead, Mr. Piven continued doing eight shows per week so that he would not let down his castmates, the audience, or the production. …
Although Mr. Piven’s forced withdrawal from the show was an enormous personal disappointment since it was his life-long dream to perform on Broadway, he is glad that his illness has helped raise public awareness of the serious health risks caused by Mercury exposure. He is also pleased that the Obama administration is seeking an international treaty to reduce Mercury pollution, which it has recognized as the world’s gravest chemical problem.
Uhhhh, so are you guys eating less sushi now? To prevent the mercury poisoning? Has your awareness been raised, guys? Or are you just more aware of the jokes about Jeremy Piven’s mercury poisoning?
Also why would “Mercury” be capitalized in this statement? Are you supposed to capitalize the name of every element on the periodic table, or was Jeremy Piven getting too close to a Roman god?
One of the doctors where I work eats sushi EVERY single day for lunch. She doesn’t seem to be having any mercury issues. Now Mercury issues, that’s an entirely different thing. ;)
What kind of sushi does she eat? The fish that would cause problems regarding mercury would be tuna, and the FDA even advises pregnant women and young children to avoid it entirely due to its mercury levels. Most other kinds of fish really aren’t a big deal.
And, Beet, to answer your question about capitalizing the names of elements, they are all regarded as common nouns and should not be capitalized unless they begin a sentence. Even elements that derive their names from people or places that are proper nouns are still considered to be common nouns.
true.. I just know she eats it every day, I don’t pay much attention to what it is she eats.
One thing is for sure, every time I hear about this I really crave sushi!
HAY< Babs whata ya wearin”
their are certain fish that have higher levels of Mercury- like tuna- but I mtill love sushi!
i couldn’t eat tuna AT ALL while i was pregnant because of mercury, and I missed it so much.
and, no, the elements are not supposed to be capitalized. According to IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry,) the full name of an element is not capitalized.
ha! i just wanna ask his lawyer whether he can get me out of chucking sickies at work!
HA! i just wanna know if his docor will sign me off on a couple of sick days haha
I once sat next to a guy on a plane that is a husband and a father and (what seemed like) a successful business man. He told me how he almost died of mercury poison from eating too much fish. Not sure if it was cooked fish or sushi but mercury poison is real. I probably would have made fun of Jeremy like the rest of you but from the stories this guy told me on the plane I know it can be very serious.
(Church Lady voice) Well, isn’t he spatial?
hahaaa! He apparently thinks he is.
I’d risk the mercury poisen to eat sushi everyday! I love it & can’t get enough of it. It’s just sooo damn expensive that I’m lucky (very lucky) if I get it once a month. My b-day is coming up & I can’t wait!!! because we are going out for sushi to celebrate!
Um well, I do like Jeremy Piven. Maybe he’ll leave the fishies alone for a little while now.