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Posted on 10/09/2003 12:43:49 PM PDT by WestCoastGal
Steve Wynn Gives Exclusive Interview
(Oct. 8) -- Casino mogul Steve Wynn is one of the people who know Siegfried and Roy best. He is one of the duos closest of friends and hired the illusionists when he built The Mirage in 1990. He even built a special theater just for their show.
Wynn gave an exclusive interview to Eyewitness News Anchor, Gary Waddell on Wednesday. He says that what happened Friday night was a fluke, something that never should have occurred. And something that no one could have foreseen. He continued to say that Roy --- even as he was being carried off stage by the tiger -- was saying he didn't want anything to happen to the cat.
Wynn was in Idaho on Friday night when the incident happened on stage. But he was one of the first people called. He flew home to visit Roy in the hospital on Saturday morning. And then began the task of trying to figure out how something like this could happen.
Wynn said for sure that Montecore did not attack Roy Horn. He said that reports that Roy was attacked are false. That Montecore would never attack Roy. That in a way, the tiger was trying to protect him following a string of unfortunate events that led to the tiger carrying Roy of stage as if he were a cub.
Steve Wynn speaks of the information he gathered from talking to people on the scene:
As Roy was leading Montecore out to stage front on a leash, the cat became fascinated and distracted by woman with a big hairdo who was sitting ringside. Instead of Montecore going down facing forward with Roy, he did a 90 degree turn and faces sideways towards the woman with the big hairdo. For whatever reason, Montecore is fascinated and distracted.
Montecore got down on all fours and puts his 26-inch head four inches away from of the woman. She thinks this is adorable and part of the show and reaches out to try and rub him under his chin. Roy is talking and sees this move. That's way wrong all the way around. As usual this heroic fellow that he is, Roy jumps between the tiger and the woman.
At that point Roy tried to re-gain the tiger's attention by pulling back on the leash and saying, "No, no, no, no. Come on, get up". As if to say, "No, I'm not ready to do what you want me to do yet, " the cat does not respond. Roy continued to command him.
The tiger then gently reached up a grabbed Roy's right arm in his jaws between Roy's elbow and wrist in a gentle, playful warning. Roy did not receive so much as a scratch on his arm or his costume. That's how gentle Montecore's grip was on Roy. This behavior is similar to how a housecat or a dog might react -- a gentle warning -- without hurting the person it loves.
Roy loudly commanded the cat to release its grip by saying, "No, no, no, no. Release, release," several times. He had to whack him with the rubber microphone several time to try and get the tiger to release its grip. This didn't hurt the tiger, but did make a loud noise. Roy continued to pull on Montecore's leash not realizing that the cat had put its big paw behind one of his legs. Roy falls backwards on stage over the paw of Montecore lying flat on his back. Four stagehands rush out and jump on the cat. Montecore gets confused; he's supposed to be with Roy walking off stage.
Roy is lying down in front of him with his feet towards the audience, his head towards the curtain.
Montecore picked up Roy with all the excitement and walks with perfect blocking according to the act. Does his exit at the right speed, right off stage left and goes into his cage, which is where he goes to get transported home.
He goes into the cage and tries to bring Roy in with him. Stagehands backstage used a technique that made Montecore release Roy. They closed the door on Montecore and Roy lay on the floor bleeding. He was then rushed to UMC.
Wynn underscores that Montecore was acting to protect Roy. He explained that during an actual lethal attack, a predator's instinct is to violently grab its prey by the neck, vigorously shakes its head snapping the neck of its prey. This is not what happened.
While Gary Waddell was with Steve Wynn today, he got a call from Bernie Yuman, Siegfried and Roy's manager. Yuman said that they had just brought Roy's dog to visit him in the hospital and that Roy had responded by petting the dog.
That's good news. And probably pretty good therapy for a man whose life's work has been loving and caring for animals. Wynn also says he's been told that they are starting to ween Roy off the life support systems in order to let his body function on its own. If that's successful, that will be a very big step in Roy's recovery
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God Bless This Man! |
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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AND SAY THANKS TO JIM ROBINSON! It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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It's becoming clear that this tiger was acting as cats act when they are trying to protect their young: they pick them up and move them.
He just said that "a Tiger is a Tiger". "A Tiger is going to do what a Tiger does"...and a snake is a snake, and a liberal is a liberal..etc.
Point is..things (and people) are what they are, no matter how much we want them to be different. That simple.
sw
I don't have any problem believing the cat just got PO'd, succumbed to its primal instincts & bit the guy.
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