Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993 TAG: 9312180147
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Medium
People shelled out $25 Friday for Bobbitt T-shirts that read "Love Hurts." They stuck pens in his face, asking for autographs. They draped their arms over his shoulder and posed for photos.
"It's horrible, what happened to him," said Tammy Tyree, who dropped $50 for two T-shirts. The money will be used to pay Bobbitt's legal fees that he said exceeded $200,000.
Fresh from appearances on Howard Stern's syndicated radio show and another in Cincinnati, Bobbitt appeared at a 7 a.m. Christmas party held at a nightclub by Pittsburgh rock station WDVE.
He fielded questions from the mostly young crowd of about 600 and took part in skits, including a lampoon of the holiday song "Twelve Days of Christmas." He chimed in on the first day of Christmas with "what my ex-wife took from me."
Bobbitt's estranged wife, Lorena, used a kitchen knife to sever her husband's penis at their Manassas, Va., home June 23. She threw it from a car minutes later, but it was found and reattached.
The woman said she attacked her husband because of sexual abuse. A Virginia jury found 26-year-old John Bobbitt innocent of a charge of marital sexual assault.
Lorena Bobbitt, 24, will be tried in January for malicious wounding and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
John Bobbitt, meanwhile, said he had appearances scheduled in Tampa, Fla., Atlanta and Phoenix before taking a break next week for the holidays.
On stage Friday with disc jockeys Scott Paulsen and Jimmy Krenn, Bobbitt appeared a little nervous. Talking with a reporter later, he spoke openly about his ordeal, which he said prepared him for his celebrity status.
"I spent a month in the hospital, naked, with nurses rubbing me down and working on me. I learned not to be bashful," Bobbitt said.
Imprinted on the front of the T-shirt he peddles is a knife-wielding woman and the words "John Wayne Bobbitt's Severed Part Telethon."
On the back are the words "Love Hurts."
He even has a toll-free telephone number through which the shirts can be ordered.
Some who bought the shirts Friday said they felt sympathy for Bobbitt. Others said they wanted the shirts for conversation starters.
"I think the whole thing is hysterical - now that he's going to be all right," said Brandy Dingfelder.
Bobbitt laughed off the outrageous questions from the audience. One person wanted to know if he experiences aches just before rain or snow. Another asked if he was sure he had the right one.
"I recognize it, and it's mine," Bobbitt said.
by CNB