Trump bails out Ed McMahon
Thank goodness we don’t have to foot the bill:
It’s “The Donald” to the rescue.
Mega-developer and TV personality Donald Trump has agreed to buy Ed McMahon’s Beverly Hills house for an undisclosed amount and allow McMahon to continue living in it. Details of the deal are still being ironed out.
“I don’t know the man, but I grew up watching him on TV,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with The Times.
McMahon, 85, was facing foreclosure within two weeks on his Beverly Hills home of 18 years. The aging television icon, who was Johnny Carson’s sidekick for three decades, defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide Financial Corp. He said in interviews that he was unable to work because of a neck injury that occurred about 18 months ago.
Trump said he stepped in because helping McMahon “would be an honor.” His plan is to buy the home from the lender and lease it back to McMahon.
“When I was at the Wharton School of Business,” Trump said, “I’d watch him every night. How could this happen?”
“How could this happen?”
People make choices, Donald. Bad choices. Like this:
Ed McMahon is being sued by another creditor. Westmoore Lending of Huntington Beach, Calif., sued McMahon for more than $275,000 it says the pitchman and former “Tonight Show” sidekick owes from a 2006 loan.
A growing number of creditors say McMahon and his wife Pamela owe them money. The other actions have targeted debts incurred for the couple’s Beverly Hills home, prescription drugs, credit card debt and attorneys’ fees for his daughter’s divorce.
That’s how it happens.
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Here’s Donnie
What’s next for Ed, a telethon maybe?
Iiiiii oooooooooowe!
I think that’s nice.
Yeah, I don’t have a problem with this. No government involvement is a big plus.
Should have consulted Carnac…
Donald saw lots of people on TV, plenty of them who need money today. There’s a LOT of this story that’s undisclosed, in addition to the price.
To quote Steve Martin’s first movie “Ahhhh A Profit deal.” My guess – Trump buys the mortgage at a deep discount, saving Ed the embarrassment and the bank some expense and uncertainty, carries the note for a bit and flips the property for a tidy profit.
I don’t for a second believe that Donald is doing this out of sentiment for a retired TV announcer.
Agreed.
kudos to the Donald no matter what his intentions were..
Yes, it’s a nice gesture — and a new “sterling” example for Dems to laud of compassionate generosity (mass bail-outs).
James Greenidge
Queens NY
Although Ed will have to move down the couch whenever The Donald has guests over for a visit.
Granted, I don’t know the terms of the deal, but on the surface it looks like Donald is a good friend to have.
Michelle – I think it’s time you take a vacation – rest up so you can regain focus before the conventions start.
Ed McMahon is 85 years old. He is a WWII and a Korean War Vet. He’s an American Icon. I don’t know his politics – but I would think it’s a safe bet that he calls himself a conservative.
I’m not a big Donald Trump fan, but I think it’s great that he has come to the aide of Mr. McMahon.
“How could this happen” in this context – is an expression of concern. Why you want to make a big point of casting blame on McMahon with so much other stuff going on in the world – is beyond me.
See my comment under the rap article.
Perhaps you had trouble understanding my post. I’m glad Trump is bailing out Ed McMahon so taxpayers don’t have to. What I’m not glad about is the continued portrayal of Ed McMahon as a “victim” of the subprime crisis. He made bad financial decisions. He is no more entitled to sympathy or foreclosure protection than any of the other sob-story non-victims I’ve repeatedly highlighted on this blog. As for “regaining focus,” what exactly does that mean? I don’t just blog about partisan politics on this site. I never have. If you don’t like the non-political posts, you don’t have to click on them.
cat fight
#15:
Oh, great. Another nero without a cause.
meow meow … nighty-nite.
I understood your post, as well as your consternation at McMahon’s portrayal as a victim, ma’am.
Neither the Donald nor Big Ed had anything to do with that, though.
I repeat: I think that’s nice. In my neck of the woods, neighbors look out for neighbors, friends.
But I don’t live in Philly, Burbank, or any big city.
Why do I get the feeling that Donzo may have dropped some serious coin on ‘ol Ed just so he could remind us of where he went to school?
This guy never ceases to be a walking sandwich board.
Donald Trump being who he is, I’m sure he’s not ignorant of Ed’s vices. He has chosen to help anyway. We all get ourselves in trouble from time to time by bad choices and unforeseeable events.
Although I would guess it’s not as altruistic as it seems on the surface, I think its good for Trump for help in any way he wants. And this is the way he has chosen.
Bravo!
A ham on wry.
Now Ed not working for the last two years caused the foreclosure threat. Most 83 year olds are not working to pay for their homes. A whole lot of something was going before his neck injury to cause this to happen. What a shame! I feel sorry for Mr. McMahon but past financial decisions caused this problem.
I am sure this made financial sense to DT or he wouldn’t have done it.
The point is not so much how Trump helps, but that he has chosen to do so.
Would you have accepted the lender’s given terms, if you were in Ed’s position, before your broken neck?
Go ahead and say ‘hell, yeah’.
Do not be so quick to condemn McMahon for doing what any of us would have done, in the same spot.
i think the point is that if you find yourself in this spot, you’ve done something wrong. especially when you’ve made millions for years….then his only excuse is extravagant lifestyle. i have no pity for that.
i think it’s awesome the Don came out for Ed, however others should not expect a knight in shining armor to appear to solve their money woes. Ed should be an example to us all.
I think the beauty of America is that anyone can succeed in America, whether they be the talented Donald Trump or the talentless Ed McMuffin.
He got paid millions for sitting on a couch for 30 years.
Unlike Paul Schaffer, who does contribute to David Letterman’s program, Johnny Carson was the entire Tonight Show, and the rest of the cast was irrelevant.
The late Phil Hartman had a perfect impersonation of Ed McMahon, because it takes depth to pretend to be callow.
I have enormous respect for the Donald, and hope he is doing this for the money he will make on the deal. There are too many people that are more worthy of help than one who proves that the entertainment industry, unlike the business world, is not a meritocracy.
Ed McMahon made money to begin with. God bless the USA.
Respectfully,
eric aka the Tygrrrr Express.
This reminds me of an America once, when neighbors took care of neighbors and people generally looked out for each other. Today, people don’t know their own next door neighbors, and don’t care anyway. Besides, Uncle Sam will do the taking care of any disaster. Charities used to come by and collect money to help the people in need. Today, on payday, Uncle Sam says, “Pay up this amount or go to jail.” I remember the years of Johnny Carson. Heck, I vaguely remember Jack Paar, as a youngster. It was a great show, and McMahon was his perfect side-kick, along with “Doc”.
I think the beauty of America is that anyone can succeed in America, whether they be the talented Donald Trump or the talentless Ed McMuffin
Could you be more specific, please?
What, in your opinio, did McMahon do wrong?
I stand by my (Finance degree’d) opinion: If anyone, in Ed McMahon’s position trying to secure financing for his $MM dollar home, would say ‘No’, to the deal he took from that lender (a lender in trouble?).
McMahon wouldn’t have known, could he?
Is that his involvment in this scheme?
Michelle’s post notwithstanding, victimness notwithstanding,
McMahon is not liable at all.
Add an “n”, whereever you like…
My bad.
That’s what Americans do. Why can’t the left figure out it’s not tax dollars and gubbmint that make things right? It’s people doing the right thing! Hey, I’m happy to see The Donald doing it, even if it is for the publicity!
I couldn’t resist!
Words taken out of my mouth, I was thinking the same thing, Donald taking over Ed’s mortgage good, Sympathy for those who make terrible financial decisions bad.
If you have a fortune – whether you earn it or win it (i.e., lottery) – the first thing you should do is invest that money. Hire a respectable accountant and create a sound financial plan so you can live off that money.
Even $1 million, properly invested, would yield more than enough interest for you to live off of comfortably. FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. But no – many who have more wealth than I can dream about greedily blow it all on stupid stuff and wind up broke within a matter of years.
So don’t give me the “we all would have done it” thing. My husband and I rent because we know – no matter how good a deal it *seemed* we were getting – we had no right to even attempt to buy a house or live outside our means until we were on more stable financial ground. Which turned out to be a good thing because 9 months after we married, my husband’s job of 11 years was shipped overseas…and it took nearly 2 years of working at temp assignments to get in with a decent company. Now we’re looking at a foreclosed home in an okay neighborhood because it’s what we can afford if we choose to buy.
We didn’t open crazy-huge lines of credit that we cannot pay back.
In short – we live within our means.
I feel bad that someone so old is facing such troubles, and I’m glad a private citizen is helping him out. But I can’t help but feel McMahon’s bad decisions led to the situation he’s in – and my sympathy is tempered by that.
So lemme see – you’d be perfectly ok if YOU were the lender and a lendee didn’t pay? No problem.
Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD do something. Mr. McMahon’s “could” take a loan, did not mean he “should” have.
Blind_Mule said:
I don’t really like Paul Schaffer, him being a Canadian who moves here and bashes America, but he is an extremely talented musician. I’ll give you your point though, that he is not a comic genius.
localmalcontent asked, “Could you be more specific, please?
What, in your opinion, did McMahon do wrong?
If you can’t figure that out, you must be a liberal. He is 85 years old and out of money. How many millions did that man earn over his lifetime? One can only dream of that kind of money. He should have invested some of that money to take care of himself in his old age. The fact that he was in so much trouble is clearly his own fault. Having said that, I do think it was a wonderful thing for the Donald to do, no matter what his reason.
My first post. I have been reading this blog and comments for about a year now, unable to jump in when I had something to say. I finally got in, but have been busy since.
Anyhow, I have to agree that Ed was in trouble because of bad choices he made. Even if DT hadn’t come to the rescue do you really think Ed and his wife would have ended up sleeping under an overpass?
Whats the worst that would happen? Being forced to live in a small house or apartment on social security? What a cruel fate (note that probably 98% of the world’s population would love to live in those “horrible” circumstances).
Good for Donald, helping out a friend in need. Yes, Ed McMahon made a few bad decisions. But, he has a friend who is willing, and able to help him out.
We all need such friends.
After this story came out I thought someone would help Ed out, a lot of stars passed by that couch he sat on and went on to make fortunes ie, ellen etc… kudo’s to trump, but a Gov. bailout, No. Wonder how much $$$ Ed blew? he had/has to have made tons of bucks.
or,
Did Trump see a friend in need or a friend with a deed? lol….. hey, had to have a lil fun.
aj, I’m the guy who sent you the email a few weeks back. I was not able to post to tell you that right after the open enrollment session. Good to be able to respond other than by talking to my computer screen.
With your finance degree, I’m sure you’d agree that what ‘went wrong’ happened YEARS before he sought financing for his home. This home was purchased (if my calculations are correct) VERY close to the time Carson bid the Tonight Show good bye…more than half of my life ago (by the way, weren’t home prices depressed in 1990??). By all accounts, McMahon should have had the house paid off OR the money available to pay off the house should anything happen…hell, he’s old. That’s just elementary estate planning.
McMahon, in his old age at the height of career, did nothing to secure his future. And for that, why should someone like me, 1/3rd his age and never having made millions, sympathize? He lived a lifestyle he could not afford, and THAT’S what he did wrong. Someone in McMahon’s shoes should be using lenders to grow their own cash stockpile, not use lenders to live a lifestyle they can not afford.
It doesn’t make him a bad person, but shouldn’t he have to lay in the bed he made like others?
Why do lenders give 30 year mortgages to 80 year old men?
well, good deal, ya made it in. I looked for your info, not to be found.
even asked soap if he had it, wanted to keep my word and all….
I’m glad for Ed McMahon, Donald Trump’s personal choice is admirable, thats the way American individualism should work.
The liberals in Congress using this as a warped metaphor to bail out (and obligate) the rest of the country in 5.4.3..
Well, look at his wife/gf whatever she’s about 50 years younger than him.
and my guess where a ton of the $$$$$ went. 
I would agree with Michelle here. You hit the nail on the head. Donald’s deal is between Ed and Donald. I don’t see it costing tax payers a dime. It’s gets Ed out of a jam and probably will make some money for Donald down the road. And Ed always seemed like a nice guy. Good for him.
But to cast Ed as a victim of the housing crisis. I don’t think so. He bought that house for $2.6 mill or so. But owes $4.8 mill on it. Plus has defaulted on some other loads not related to that property. Who knows how he arrived at his current situation.. but it wasn’t because of a property valuation.
Faraway: because they set higher rates and require life insurance. Or t least.. they should.
defaulted on other “loans”…
any chance of getting a time limited edit function?
I wonder had McMahon NOT fractured his neck, would such a pity party be occurring. I think not. Good for Mr. Trump’s largessee… bad financing by Mr. McMahon.
it’s ok nj, load$ works. lol
I think that’s great! In fact, if I had the assets of The Donald, that’s exactly what I would have done. Ed was a Marine aviator during WWII and did not serve on a carrier only because Truman nuked Japan. His great, great, great grandfather, the Duke of Magenta, was a marshal and president of France. The Duke’s favorite sauce, named Macmahonaise in his honor, was later shortened to mayonnaise.MAYONNAISE!!!
Contrast this to John Edwards, who would not cross the street to help out his poor neighbor, who did not have the money to clean up his yard to the Edwards’ satisfaction. This is the neighbor that Elizabeth Edwards called “a rabid Republican.
Charity is always a good thing, when it’s done with an open heart.
The Edward’s were a
gettinlil busy don’t cha know.I also think that for whatever motives Donald did a good dead. Ed McMahon seems like a good person who over spent and suffered unanticipated bad breaks.
During the farm crisis of the late 1970’s and 80’s many of our neighbors lost their homes as Ed nearly did and for the same reasons. They couldn’t pay their bills.
If Ed can keep from destroying the place with his (rumoured, unsubstantiated) continuous blow&hooker parties (never mind the unsubstantiated firearms play and chicken wrangling), Th’ Donald should be able to make a decent buck on the place.
And he gets a bit of free publicity.
“Classy” hasn’t been the first word that came to mind when I’ve thought of The Donald in the past, but there is no denying the classiness of this move.
Ed McMahon is beloved by many as a TV personality, but let’s not forget that he was a Marine who twice left showbiz while on the brink of fame to serve in two different wars, who trained fighter pilots in WW2, and who flew numerous combat missions in Korea. His voluntary service could’ve cost him his shot at fame and fortune, and he knew it. Still, he chose to serve his country. He is a real American hero.
While he has obviously made some bad decisions over the years that in no way entitle him to anything, I am glad that someone like Donald Trump was able to lend him a hand.
Thank you, Mr. Trump.
I agree with MM, nice of TRUMP to help ED… My question is the same as MMs… ED is in his mid 80s… Was the CHOSEN SIDE KICK of CARSON from the early 60s… Where the HELL did all that money go??? The last thing ED is, is a VICTIM… FOOLISH maybe, IGNORANT maybe, even STUPID, but not a VICTIM…
Two divorces and a new trophy wife, no wonder he still has to work at 85.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that his $ woes began when his current wife was spending $ like it was free. Wonder if Donald included in the deal that the wife spends zero $.
I’m not sure it could be defined as “bad financial decisions” – after all, most of us get mortgages on the assumption we’ll be able to continue working.
And loss of employment – and employability – would hit most of us the same way.
It’s unfortunate, but it’s not part of the subprime mess either, at least from appearances.
And Donald gets not only some good publicity (which he usually needs), he also gets a house and some property that will probably appreciate in value over the term he’s probably looking at owning it for.
Then again – didn’t he and his latest trophy just announce she’s pregnant? He just might be feeling good about that.
My dad made very little money but saved and invested and is now retired with out a worry.
Ed McMahon had plenty of money and wasted it. He wants to be in bed with a younger woman and is letting her spend what is left. He is stupid and she is in it for the money.
Nero,
The Donald did inherit money, but what he did with it far surpassed anything his father did. Donald Trump truly is a visionary.
I say this as somebody who has no affiliations with him, except briefly meeting him 2x and liking him.
As for Paul Schaffer, I think he and Letterman are hilarious. I just never found Ed McMahon to contribute anything to the Tonight Show.
As a republican, I wish I did not like Letterman, because I do not like his politics. Yet as a New Yorker with a sarcastic streak, he really is that good.
Respectfully,
eric aka the Tygrrrr Express
I felt sorry for Ed when I first heard this story come out. BUT, he was on the Dog Whisperer recently and you should see his home, you should see his entourage(staff). I couldn’t believe it. Plus he’s on wife what?
I don’t feel sorry for him, and he should get himself out of his own jam, maybe downsize??? Get rid of staff???
RE: comments #13, #14, #15 #17
Michelle, hope you found some humor in my earlier “catty” response.
Thanks to Nero – who gave me that inadvertent easy out. I really did have to call it a night.
I was caught off guard by your response – but I was also honored – since although I’ve written you many times – this was our first exchange. I hope we may have more harmonious ones in the future …
OK – you asked. “Regain focus?”.
As a fan of yours, I’d like to see you hit as many “home runs” as possible. But,I also have the “luxury” of acting
as an umpire. If I see you “hit one” – and it looks foul to me – I have to call it – as I see it. I can’t imagine
you want all your commentors to yell “great hit” when in fact, you hit a little dribbler that goes in front of the bag.
I admit I can’t make the right call all the time – but I’m going to try my best. I know you are not going to agree
with me all the time (OK – hardly ever) – but my ultimate goal is to have you hit more home runs – because that’s
a lot more exciting to watch then seeing you hit little dribblers or seeing you fall flat on your face (which I’m probably doing right now.)
So I maintain – there’s no way Ed McMahon would ever qualify for a tax-payer paid bail-out for his particular problem. So it’s a mute point. Saying Trump’s assistance is better than a tax-payer paid bail-out – is a truth on top of a false-hood.
His situation is really not related to the sub-prime crisis at all. He has mentioned that the crisis has caused the value of his house to drop – but that’s true for all home owners. I can’t find anything where it says he has blamed his problem specifically on the sub-prime crisis. He openly admits -he’s “been an extravagent spender” – but he “has also always worked” – until he was laid up for eighteen months with his neck injury. In short, I feel Mr. McMahon is a much better person than what you portray. So even if your post on him is still sort of just a “novelty item” – I still yell – “foul”.
And speaking of John Edwards… (since other commentors go completely off track – I guess I’ll do it this one time.) Do you see yourself as invincible? That is, can you do no wrong in what you write? Can you cite one piece in the past which you now would write differently? I’m not accusing … I’m honestly curious.
One last thing … things aren’t always as they first appear. I had my hair cut last night – and my hair-cutter had just
gotten back from a long vacation – and it’s the most relaxed I’ve seen her in years. So along with you mentioning
the headache you had after hearing the “Kill Bill/Michelle” rap (see #183 under that topic) – I honestly thought a nice vacation might be good for you …maybe a nice week-end at the beach would suffice?
OK – all my comments from here on will be much shorter and stick to the topic at hand without getting so personal.
(We shall now return back to our regular commenting.)
I do realize that I’m just one little ant among many in this ant hill trying to help out the queen ant – so I hope I don’t come off looking like I’m really full of myself.
The baseball analogy above isn’t perfect (#64) – but I hope it gives a better idea of my “philosophy” concerning commenting on blogs. It’s the best my little brain could come up with.
Go Rosie and Gibby! – Men’s beach volleyball team at the Olympics.
They just beat those Spanish Slant-eyes!
Speaking of the beach – check out #233 under “More Reasons”….