Devo’s Jerry Casale Complains Media Attention ‘Ruined Our Wedding’ After Photos Surface Of 9/11-Themed Reception
Devo co-founder, bassist and vocalist Jerry Casale wanted a small wedding, so he and fiancee Krista Napp met Friday before a Beverly Hills justice of the peace with only a single witness present. Then TMZ obtained photographs of their 9/11-themed wedding reception, and the private affair went very, very public. The ensuing firestorm of media attention, according to Casale, ruined the wedding
Casale told Billboard that the wedding, which took place on the 14th anniversary of September 11, 2001, wasn’t intentionally scheduled that way, and that the reception was planned by a well-meaning friend.
According to Casale, the Beverly Hills courthouse is only open on Fridays, and the anniversary of 9/11 was the only date available for a wedding prior to the impending expiration of the couple’s marriage license.
The wedding party consisted of Casale, Napp, and just a single witness, and the following reception was also an intimate event, with only 20 invited guests. Each guest was treated to a place card with an image of an engraved box cutter and party favors that included actual box cutters.
Devo Co-Founder — 9/11 Themed Wedding… Box Cutters Anyone? http://t.co/XY7OTl1LWb
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 14, 2015
Casale told Billboard that he had no idea his friends had planned a 9/11-themed wedding reception, and that he thought it was in poor taste.
Of the box cutter place cards, he said, “that was pretty nasty…we thought that the was the end of the reference.”
Then the World Trade Center wedding cake came out, and Casale was not amused.
Prior to the wedding, some of Casale’s friends reportedly commented that it was macabre day for a wedding. CBS News reports that, Jerry replied that he and Knapp were, “the Twin Towers of love.”
According to Casale, their friend ran with that joke and just took it a little too far.
“He thought it was some sort of transgressive sick humor,” Casale told Billboard, “and the problem is, it’s not funny.”
With such a small guest list at the wedding reception, and no media present, that could have been the end of it. Casale and his new bride left for their honeymoon after the reception, and they were without cell phone service for the duration of the weekend.
When the couple returned home Monday, they found that one of their guests had taken pictures of the macabre wedding reception and sold them to TMZ.
Jerry was apologetic on Twitter and in interviews, telling Billboard that the theme of the reception was a surprise. All the media attention, he said, had retroactively, “ruined our wedding.”
Deep apologies for all offended. There is a real explanation and its not what you think. Surprise cake and pix to TMZ was a set up. TBC… — Gerald Casale (@Gvc3Casale) September 15, 2015
Do you buy Casale’s explanation and sympathize with the couple’s “ruined wedding,” or is something like a 9/11-themed wedding reception just too offensive to let go?
[Photo by Karl Walter / Getty Images News]
