The “Team Tate” national media tour continued Thursday morning with Shelton High School’s James Tate and Sonali Rodrigues appearing on the “Today” show.
The two teens went over their story, gaining the support of Matt Lauer by the end of the interview.
“I do think calmer heads might prevail here, especially since you’ve taken full responsibility and it does seem as if the punishment is a little out of order with the crime,” Lauer said.
Shelton High School officials didn’t comment to NBC, but a reporter for the television show said high school headmaster Beth Smith may make a statement later today.
The following is a recap of their Jimmy Kimmel appearance:
The “Team Tate“ campaign scored some big laughs at the expensive of Shelton High School administrators during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night.
Hopeless romantic James Tate and his would-be prom date Sonali Rodrigues appeared on the Kimmel show via a Skype interview with the host for about six minutes.
If you haven’t heard, Tate’s in hot water with school officials for asking Rodrigues out by attaching a giant cardboard sign to the outside of the school. The gesture got him banned from this year’s prom.
Video clip from show follows. It was working as of 2 a.m. Thursday. Story continues below.
“To me it seems crazy. It doesn’t seem like the punishment fit the crime,” Kimmel said before introducing Tate on video chat.
Tate did the interview from his Shelton home.
The Interview
“James, have you always been a hopeless romantic?” Kimmel asked.
“Yes,” Tate said.
Kimmel cracked a joke:
“I used tape to get a girl to go with me to the prom, too, but I took a different strategy with the tape,” he said.
Tate chuckled. It sounded a wee bit devious. The audience laughed.
Kimmel then had him go through how he hung the letters on the school at 1:30 in the morning with friends.
“Then I got in-school suspension and my prom revoked,” he said.
Tate told Kimmel the administration suspended him.
“Has Gloria Allred contacted you yet?” Kimmel asked, getting a laugh.
“Uh, no. I don’t know who that is,” Tate said.
(Pause)
“You will,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel then asked Tate what he would have done if Sonali Rodrigues had said no?
“Um … killed her,” Tate said, joking.
“See, for that you would have been suspended,” Kimmel said.
“She’s my friend, she wouldn’t have said no,” Tate said.
Kimmel then went over the safety measures Tate took while hanging the message from a ladder. Example — he wore a helmet.
Tate then gave a shout out to the friend who helped him steady the ladder.
Kimmel then brought Rodrigues into the interview, which got a cheer from the studio audience.
“Sonali, have you always been attracted to bad boys?” Kimmel asked.
She laughed. “We’re just friends.”
Kimmel: “Are you banned from the prom, too?”
“Not right now,” she said, smiling.
“Are you planning to get banned from the prom?” Kimmel asked.
“Going to try not to,” she said.
“Are you planning to go to the prom with someone else?” Kimmel asked.
“I’m not sure at the moment. I haven’t bought a ticket yet,” she said.
Kimmel laughed while the audience gave a slight groan.
“That would be the worst possible outcome for James now, wouldn’t it?” Kimmel said.
The host then asked if this was going on Tate’s personal record.
“I believe I already have gotten into trouble,” Tate said.
“Yeah, I guess you have,” Kimmel said.
Tate said he tried to get his friends out of trouble, but didn’t have any luck.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t have gone to school in Nazi Germany,” Kimmel said, getting another laugh.
Kimmel then asked the couple to show America how they would have danced had they been allowed to attend their prom.
Tate stood right up, smiling. Rodrigues laughed and let out a “no.”
She got up and they did a dance, or sorts, for about two seconds.
Kimmel then explained he had never attended his high school prom — instead, he spent the night watching Lee Majors in “The Fall Guy,” a classic 80s television show.
Kimmel then said he would be sending Tate a VHS copy of the show — along with the cruddy black and white television he used to watch the show on.
Internet Folk Hero
The Kimmel interview topped off a wild day in Shelton during which Tate’s plight become an Internet sensation, highlighted by an expanding-by-the-minute Facebook group, a second official Facebook group, a website selling T‑shirts to raise money for an alternative prom — and thousands upon thousands of people on Twitter supporting the AP student by attaching #TeamTate to their Tweets.
Shelton High School officials didn’t comment on the matter all day. Superintendent Freeman Burr sent out the following press release saying he wouldn’t comment on the matter. Post continues below.
NBC30 followed Burr to his car Wednesday evening, but the superintendent did not have much to say.
Young people, naturally, were the driving force between the massive wave of social media support thrown at Tate.
This video popped up on YouTube Wednesday night:
Twitter exploded with people supporting Tate. The Valley Indy tracked the Tweets in real time starting at 12 p.m. Wednesday. They’re all in the box below. Article continues below.
A few celebrities even used Twitter to try to get Shelton school officials to change their minds.
Retired NFL player Warren Sapp sent out a #TeamTate Tweet — as did Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine.
And, late Wednesday, state Rep. Jason Perrillo, R‑Shelton, locked in a marathon meeting at the state capitol, was trying to get an amendment tacked to a bill that would allow Tate to attend his prom.
“Currently drafting legislation to address the Tate situation… would allow him to attend the prom,” Perrillo posted on Facebook.
YOU SO CRAZY!
Here are some of our favorite wackiest social media posts regarding the Shelton prom mega story:
REMEMBER: THIS GOES MUCH FURTHER THEN SHELTON AND JAMES TATE. THIS IS ABOUT REVOLUTION FROM UNFAIR AUTHORITY. NOT ABOUT ANARCHY, BUT ABOUT BENEVOLENT FAIRNESS! THIS IS THE AGE OF CREATION
Source: Facebook, “The New Shelton Prom! (The James Tate Prom 2011!)”
#teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate #teamtate
Source: Twitter, @mylifeast0ri
Shelton should give Tate a medal for replacing “Faisal Shahzad lived there” as the most recent major news story about the town #teamtate
Source: Twitter, @dfphartford
“If James Tate doesn’t go to the prom, George McFly will never punch Biff.”
Source: Twitter, @whoisjennaryan
“Shamelessly stole that previous tweet from my brother’s facebook status, by the way.” #teamtate
Source: Twitter, @whoisjennaryan
WTNH I bet this happened while the driver was tweeting about #teamtate
(Responding to a report of a rollover crash in Shelton)
Source: Twitter, @DiCurley
WE DON’T GET JAMES TO THE PROM…A “Lil” PIECE OF ALL OF US DIES…
Source: Facebook, Patrick Burke, “Let James Tate Go to the Prom”
THE OFFICIAL JAMES TATE PROM AND MOVEMENT IS AN AMERICAN CINDERELLA STORY. HOW CAN WE TOLERATE PUNISHMENT FOR AN INSPIRED ROMANTIC??
Source: The New Shelton Prom! (The James Tate Prom 2011!)
