Former ‘American Idol’ Host Brian Dunkleman Torches TMZ for Revealing He’s Now an Uber Driver
“I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son,” Dunkleman responds
Tony Maglio | January 4, 2019 @ 6:41 AM
Last Updated: January 4, 2019 @ 6:58 AM
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Many people in Hollywood’s Thirty-Mile Zone (that’s what “TMZ” stands for, folks) may be afraid to take on gossip website TMZ and its founder Harvey Levin, but ex-“American Idol” host Brian Dunkleman is not among them.
After TMZ posted this story revealing that the former TV partner to Ryan Seacrest now drives for Uber, Dunkleman didn’t shy away from injecting a few more facts into the narrative.
“I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son as much as he needed after our life as we knew it was destroyed,” Dunkleman wrote on Twitter to TMZ and its boss Harvey Levin. “Print that.”
“And I make over a grand on a good week motherf–kers,” he added atop the hashtag #HumanBarnacles.
Dunkleman’s girlfriend, Andrea Whitney, also backed her boy up on the social media platform, posting a photo of the former Fox personality cuddling with his son on a hike.
“This is why he’s an Uber driver,” she wrote. “F–k you TMZ.”
Whitney also included her own hashtag: #ImInLoveWithAnUberDriver, along with a photo of herself in a bikini, captioning it: “This is what an Uber driver’s girlfriend looks like.” She then again verbally flipped off the news and gossip site.
Per TMZ’s story, Dunkleman, who is in the middle of a divorce battle with Kalea Dunkleman, disclosed in court documents that he started driving for Uber in March 2016. Brian and Kalea currently share custody of their five-year-old son, Jackson.
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A ranked list of the biggest hits on the Great White Way, as of March 8, 2020 (according to The Broadway League)
17. "Rent" (original production) Opened: April 29, 1996 Closed: Sept. 7, 2008 Gross: $274.2 million
16. "The Producers" Opened: April 19, 2001 Closed: April 22, 2007 Gross: $288.4 million
15. "Mary Poppins" Opened: Nov. 16, 2006 Closed: March 3, 2013 Gross: $294.6 million
14. "Miss Saigon" (original production) Opened: April 11, 1991 Closed: Jan. 28, 2001 Gross: $298.7 million
13. "Kinky Boots" Opened: April 4, 2013 Closed: April 7, 2019 Gross to date: $319.0 million
12. "Les Misérables" (original production) Opened: March 12, 1987 Closed: May 18, 2003 Gross: $406.3 million