Thompson writes letter to Take-Two executive's mother

by Xav de Matos { Apr 23rd 2008 at 9:00PM }

Protesting the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, which lands at retail on April 29, outspoken videogame critic Jack Thompson has written a strongly worded letter addressed to the mother of Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick.

According to ShackNews, in the letter the Florida attorney equates Strauss to Hitler Youth, asks Mrs. Zelnick why her porn-peddling son doesn't leave her shamed, accuses Strauss of causing the death of three Alabama police officers, quotes scripture and asks if she was involved in training her son to push Mature-rated games onto children. Thompson did however find it in his heart to wish the nice lady a Happy Mother's Day.

Oh Jack, you're a sweetheart. In other news Thompson's legal career is still hanging in the balance as a Florida judge is ruling on a trial that could see him disbarred from practicing law in Florida. Wonder what Jack's mom thinks about that.

[Thanks, xblackplaguex]

Tags: grand-theft-auto, grand-theft-auto-iv, gta, gtaiv, jack-thompson, take-two

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Christopher @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:09PM

Thompson, do all of us a favor and STFU.

xenocidic @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:28PM

I thought they agreed to leave eachother alone?

SadisticHam @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:13PM

I thought this was a joke when i heard it, was that silly. Man has lost it now, funny as hell but all the same, what a nutter.

a14carlos @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:14PM

hes coo coo for coco puffs.

and you can quote me on that.

Britton @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:55PM

Hahaha, I heart your funnies.

Jim Halpert DM @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:14PM

Any relation to Tom Cruise....cause this guy's a loon.

ZEBRA NINER @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:18PM

What a freak! haha! So, I hear he's going to host Fox News.... ;)

AnOffday @ Apr 24th 2008 12:55AM

How exactly does one host an entire news network?

andyface @ Apr 24th 2008 4:10AM

with a tin foil hat and a sceptre made of chimp poo

ZEBRA NINER @ Apr 24th 2008 11:29AM

If anyone can do it... he can. *Looks to heavens with promise in eyes*

It was a joke, chill out.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Apr 24th 2008 12:12PM

Andyface. That was effin' hillarious.

kp @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:20PM

ze gads!! not a strongly worded letter! seriously though, has Jack Thompson NO shame? how is that even close to professional writing a letter to a grown-up's mother? there are better ways to protest something you don't approve of. seriously start a facebook group or online petition or something...man is off his rocker.

Jim Halpert DM @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:22PM

Tattle-tale! Tattle-tale!

Kevin @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:29PM

b#thc as# jack duckalotofdickson is so gay.

Seattle Yonkers @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:42PM

I like how you censor the words 'bitch' and 'ass' but have no problem using 'gay' as a derogatory insult.

Way to go.

mcwattersm @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:36PM

I just found it funny he put a K in "traffick"

ZeroCorpse @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:09PM

That's because that's the way you spell that iteration of the word. He's not talking about cars.
- - - - - - - - -
verb ( trafficked |ˈtrøfɪkt|, trafficking |ˈtrøfɪkɪŋ|) [ intrans. ]
deal or trade in something illegal : the government will vigorously pursue individuals who traffic in drugs.
DERIVATIVES
trafficker |ˈtrøfɪkər| noun
trafficless |ˈtrøfɪkləs| adjective
- - - - - - - - - - -

Yes, Thompson's a douchebag, but he wasn't wrong in his grammer and spelling. Sorry. You look silly for laughing at him in this case.

ZeroCorpse @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:10PM

Although, let me say his use of that word is another symptom of his tendency to exaggerate wildly. He equates Take-Two's business to an illegal practice when he choses that word, and obviously, Take-Two isn't doing anything illegal.

mcwattersm @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:23PM

I am pretty sure (although not 100% so don't quote me on this...) its only spelt with a K in European countries.

ZeroCorpse @ Apr 24th 2008 1:04AM

...And you would be wrong.

"Traffic" is what you see at 5:00 PM on the expressway.

"Trafficking" is when you smuggle or sell illegal goods.

One is a verb, the other a noun. The only way it can be a noun yet still have a "k" in it is when you're discussing someone who commits acts of trafficking; You'd call them a "trafficker", as in "drug trafficker" or "GTA IV trafficker." (the latter being used in the deluded Thompson mind-set, of course).

It's not a matter of dialect. It's a matter of usage. If you were talking about what a drug trafficker deals in, you wouldn't use the "k" -- They deal in drug traffic.

It's the act of making it a verb that slaps that "k" on the end. Thompson's letter says "Trafficks in..." and is clearly using the word as a present-tense verb. The "k" in this case is optional, but not improper by any means.

Not even in the USA.

outlaw640 @ Apr 24th 2008 4:52AM

Talk about grammar nazis, jesus just let it go, not everyone can be a walking dictionary

Raheem @ Apr 24th 2008 7:53AM

Actually everyone CAN learn to spell correctly, outlaw. Some just choose not to. Well done ZeroCorpse, if you hadn't have done that, I would've.

Tom D. @ Apr 24th 2008 7:21PM

Actually you are wrong, ZeroCorpse. You would be right if he used the words "trafficking" or "trafficked", but he uses "trafficks" which is not the correct way to spell that. See, there you spell it "traffics". At least according to Merriam-Webster online, and ironically the spellchecker on this site. Probably should have done a little more research on the usage of it before your rant.

bigmac375 @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:40PM

douché

Matt @ Apr 24th 2008 12:18AM

You trafficked my icon!

Halwende @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:43PM

What does he hope to accomplish by that?

News headline: "GTA IV pulled from shelves after Chairman's mum calls him a naughty boy" ..??

*sigh* ...agree with comment #1

PWND @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:59PM

Bah... let Mr. Thompson worry about his little pecker while we all enjoy GTA4!!!

c. thomas @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:59PM

Wow are you serious. He actually put the phase, "Imma tell yo mama" to use.....LoL

xblackplaguex @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:07PM

No love for me xav? :'(

Xav de Matos @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:14PM

Sorry about that brother!
Fixed and thanks.

Rell @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:10PM

I'm laughing too much right now.

AoE @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:14PM

Wow that's fucked up. What does Zelnick's mom have to do with anything Thompson?! I hope he realizes what a monster he looks like harassing an old woman like that. Think he learned such behavior in church? I know he didn't pick it up from a video game...

Anticrawl @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:48PM

If a man I knew and could get a hold of made such public comments about my mother he'd be in for an ass-beating. Well maybe but this guy is already over-do from one and having the final fuel for said ass-beating would be iceing on the cake.

You gonna take that Strauss? He just insulted your mother and compared you to hilter infront of your entire fanbase and probably the rest of the country (as soon as FOX news reports it).

Anticrawl @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:50PM

Violent video games don't cause violence, horrible public comments about ones mother causes violence. Statistics say that 98.3% of all violence is caused my mother jokes or insults. Violence has been down do to the decreasing popularity of mom-jokes since the early 90s.

Deck @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:49PM

Lulz. This is just FULL of lulz!

xblackplaguex @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:52PM

haha Thanks Xav :D

Ranus Studios @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:52PM

JACK THOMPSON'S MOTHER IS DEAD YOU JERK

I'm kidding, I don't know if she is. But look at that man's hair. She probably is.

Kokomadeta @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:32PM

That's just lame writing a letter to the dude's Mom. Come on! He's now antagonizing an innocent person over her son being a success in life! As though it wasn't confirmed before, he's just furthering proof that his cause is non-existant, and he's just a bully out to push his ideas on others. He's kind of like cops and other officials who push their moral hang-ups and not the law.

DWilli of QN5 Fame @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:37PM

If Jack Thompson understood the legal system, he would know that he is harrassing Strauss' mother, and committing libel by calling Strauss a porn-peddler.

Wait....Jack Thompson is a lawyer?

.............

*runs away crying*

Urza @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:56PM

Please stop posting about this clown. As long as he continues to get attention, he'll keep trying to remain in the spotlight.

Anticrawl @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:59PM

Would only be lible if it was a public letter or article. This was private, but harrasment yes. Pretty sick man though, someone needs to put him down *graps figurative shotgun*

stinger503 @ Apr 24th 2008 1:37AM

I'm pretty sure posting on the internet is public

jman @ Apr 24th 2008 4:04AM

after reading through this letter i really just wanna beat the shit out of him and show him how much ive learned from this "murder simulator" i mean seriously how the fuck can you call it a murder simulator when aiming is the result of simply pulling down a trigger?...its people like this that really give human biengs in general a bad name...why cant he just go live in a fucking hole and leave us alone...i know ppl have said this kinda stuff b4 butreading this really put me over the edge......a letter to someones mother??? comon jack thompson grow the fuck up and leave the video game industry alone

andyface @ Apr 24th 2008 4:31AM

what a ridiculous human being.

Living in the UK (where guns are rare) I can still tell you that if you put a gun in my hands I probably wouldn't really know how to use it and if I did I'm not sure I'd be able (both physically and mentally) to shoot it at another human being, despite all the murder simulators I've played. Surely the fact that a kid can get hold of a hand gun easily has something to do with it more than what game he played, or even the fact that we have created weapons so simple that anyone can operate them without any real training. But no it's all the games fault, because the graphics are so realistic that it's virtually impossible to tell the difference between that and real life leading to a delusional state of existence. Only the other day did I get convinced that I was living in a medieval world where I could jump off tall buildings and land in a pile of hey without a scratch, boy was my face red when I realised I wasn't (people where confused by my overuse of foresooth and I landed on a pitchfork).

That descended into sarcasm far too easily. Sorry.

andyface @ Apr 24th 2008 4:45AM

Also, please don't judge Christians by this guy, most of us aren't crazy people, and some of us enjoy playing "murder simulators" it means we don't have to do it in real life :D

Boff @ Apr 24th 2008 5:37AM

Totally agree with your first point Andyface, maybe if firearms weren't so readily available then there wouldn't be so many problems?

So does Jack Thompson do much campaigning to toughen up the US gun laws?

If I was Strauss Zelnick I'd sue the fucker for harrassment then beat the fuck out of him (the good old fashioned way) for dragging my mother into this publicity-grabbing charade.

Have some decency and self-respect Thompson. You're a grown man FFS.

Raheem @ Apr 24th 2008 7:57AM

Andy, sorry I'm not trying to be rude but you don't speak for the United Kingdom. Where I live in London, gun crime is rife and there is a real fear of it. I don't know where you live but I envy you for not having the same problem.

andyface @ Apr 24th 2008 8:20AM

Salford! Which also has gun problems, but not to the extent it is in the US.

My point is more that the majority of homes in the UK don't have them sat in their closet for a rainy day. This may not be the case in the US, but it's what I have been led to believe and with the NRA etc. existing I'm, probably on the right lines, but willing to be corrected.