Back when American Idol debuted in 2002 and crowned goddess divine Kelly Clarkson as its inaugural winner, you might not remember that Ryan Seacrest co-hosted the show with another guy: comedian and actor Brian Dunkleman. Seacrest continued hosting Idol solo in the seasons that followed, as Dunkleman decided to quit to pursue other roles in the entertainment industry, keeping a rather low profile ever since. That is, until last week. In an article published by TMZ, his name resurfaced when the outlet “outed†his new gig as an Uber driver, which was listed as his career in his divorce filing papers. Dunkleman soon got wind of the article’s mocking tone, and expressed his anger on Twitter — especially since he changed careers to support his son.
“I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son as much as he needed after our life as we knew it was destroyed. Print that,†Dunkleman tweeted at TMZ’s founder, Harvey Levin. “And I make over a grand on a good week motherfuckers.†He added, knowing TMZ disclosed private information about his child in the article: “You stalk my son all day? A five year old? Scaring a child? You come for me you gutless pieces of shit. You come for me.â€
TMZ has yet to respond to Dunkleman’s tweets. In the same article, the outlet also reported he began his full-time Uber career in early 2016.