Ringo Starr No Longer Accepting Fan Mail

[JoeFan]

You're right, PM, probably a lot of it does get thrown away. But to throw it in people's faces like this... I mean, he really went about this in a very poor fashion. In a much gentler tone, he could have said something like...

"Dear fans - I want you to know that I am grateful for your support over the years and I appreciate you. Unfortunately, I have become overwhelmed and will not be able to read any fan mail received after Oct. 20. I wish I could, but it's simply become too much. Thank you anyway; your continued loyalty means a lot to me.

Peace and love."

Instead he sounded angry and annoyed; his repeated "peace and love" lines sounded perfunctory and, considering the context, insincere. Throwing in the line about "tossing" the fan mail was an especially bad move. He came across as completely insensitive. Doesn't the man have PR people?

Leaves a bad taste in a lot of folks' mouths. Let's just say if I had been one of the many people who wrote to Ringo Starr in order to tell him how much the Beatles' music had changed my life, I'd be feeling pretty crappy right now.

ETA: Found this parody on YouTube by BeatleBabe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOSoCScyhY
lol!

Your post is spot on, Soda.

Watching the video though I'm beginning to wonder if there's not more to this, something more serious, I hope all is well with Ringo and he hasn't fallen back into self-destructive behaviours.

[Prettymaid]

This was all over the news last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to do a little damage control.

[TimothyBFan]

I happen to see this last night on Bill O'Reilly -he made his "almost a pinhead" segment for it. Maybe it wasn't meant to be completely serious. He sure comes off sounding like a jerk tho. I agree PM, I bet he ends up doing damage control on this one.

And of course this comes at a time when I just sent a fan letter to Timmy and MH has me wondering if I should have sent it to Julie or where I did send it, etc. Hopefully someone passes it on to him and it doesn't just get tossed!

[Prettymaid]

And of course this comes at a time when I just sent a fan letter to Timmy and MH has me wondering if I should have sent it to Julie or where I did send it, etc. Hopefully someone passes it on to him and it doesn't just get tossed!

History shows that Timothy cares very much about his fans. If anybody's going to answer a fan's letter it's would be him.

[Mrs Henley]

History shows that Timothy cares very much about his fans. If anybody's going to answer a fan's letter it's would be him.

That's true, Timothy cares about his fans
(not that I'm saying the others don't care)

But what I'm wondering about .. does the letter we send to Azoff MusicManagement or the Eagles Touring Company or the ERC, do they ended up with the guys or do they stay at the management.

[Brooke]

That really made me think a lot less of Ringo. I'm sure they get tired of it, so, ok, hire someone to take care of it. It's not like you can't afford it, thanks to those fans. But to come out and tell people he was going to throw it in the trash was just being a jerk and a very stupid way to handle it.

The best thing he could have said about it was nothing!

[ticky]

I personally, have never been a huge Ringo fan. I dont have anything against the guy, I just dont think he's all that talented. Maybe Im missing something.
But dont you think maybe this all is his way of dealing with a severe LACK of fan mail? I cant imagine Ringo getting all that flooded with fan mail. Even if he was personally trying to deal with it all, Im pretty sure he's not getting as flooded with it as say, Paul or even Yoko! and it's not like he has a hit recording out right now, or has been on a whirlwind tour. I dunno.. this sniff's of sour grapes IMHO.

[tbs fanatic]

Well, I have to disagree with everyone on this one. I think it's refreshing he's being so honest. He's had YEARS of this stuff coming at him why not just put a stop to it. Why bother to pay someone to deal with this stuff even if you can afford it. I'm sorry but I'm with Ringo on this one. I could rant on and on about this but perhaps I'd better stop

[ticky]

Well, I have to disagree with everyone on this one. I think it's refreshing he's being so honest. He's had YEARS of this stuff coming at him why not just put a stop to it. Why bother to pay someone to deal with this stuff even if you can afford it. I'm sorry but I'm with Ringo on this one. I could rant on and on about this but perhaps I'd better stop

It's not so much what he did, but how he did it! The fans are what keep Celebrities Celebrities! If they alienate their fans by basically saying "I have absolutely no respect for the love and admiration you show me and I will from now on throw it away. Peace Love" you're going to loose a LOT of your fan base.
If he'd just said something like what Soda posted above or just hired someone to deal with it. Maybe put a bounce back on the mail so it was all returned to sender, but no. He publicly declared his disdain of his fans! big mistake.

[tbs fanatic]

Mmmmm - I suppose he could of worded it better but I really think he's just saying 'Enough is enough'. I'm sure he gets plenty of fan mail. He's not just a celebrity he's a 'Beatle' - that makes a huge difference. It's like Elvis - he's not just a celebrity. LOL - before you say I shouldn't put Elvis and Ringo in the same boat - both The Beatles and Elvis had a HUGE impact on the music world so I think they are in the same boat. - okay, I'll stop.