Breaking news: Evel Knievel is dead at 69. As we remember the 1970s stuntman and orthopedic-surgery poster boy, let’s also remember his unwitting contribution to our slang lexicon: He helped make it legal to call someone a pimp. In 2001, ESPN’s website ran a photo of Knievel with a caption saying that he “proves that you’re never too old to be a pimp.” Knievel sued for defamation. The case made it to the Ninth Circuit Court, which ruled against Knievel, finding that ESPN had tagged him a pimp not to suggest that he managed prostitutes, but rather that he was, as the kids say, “cool.” “It was most likely intended as a compliment,” concluded the majority. Knievel’s decision to try to jump over the majestic canyon of the First Amendment seems even more bizarre considering that, according to his AP obit, he used to brag about having been a “swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.” (Photo: evelknievel.com)
