Earlier this year, The Masked Singer made some news by making the controversial choice to cast Rudy Giuliani in an episode. Shortly after the taping in February, the news came out that Rudy was on the show and Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke walked off set when the singer was revealed. The episode aired a few weeks ago. When asked about the casting and reveal on a conference call about next season’s schedule, network executives said they had no regrets.

Fox execs finally addressed the controversy surrounding Rudy Giuliani being cast on “The Masked Singer,” and according to Rob Wade, the president of alternative entertainment & specials at Fox Entertainment, the company has “no regrets.”

The network brass was asked about Giuliani’s casting on Monday morning during a conference call announcing the network’s new fall lineup. “Yeah, absolutely no regrets,” Wade said. “The marketing is all about delivering jaw dropping moments, which is exactly what the casting accomplished. And whether it was on set or with the viewers at home I suppose my only regret or surprise was obviously the reveal was spoiled [by the press], but kudos to you guys. Just please don’t do it again. Thanks a lot.”

On this season’s episode 7, which aired April 20, the disgraced former attorney showed up, sang an off-key and off-putting version of “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood and the Destroyers and then was unmasked as the Jack in the Box.

The episode teased the Giuliani reveal as “the biggest event in ‘Masked Singer’ history.”

Panelist Ken Jeong was not pleased as reported: “No, that’s not Robert Duvall” (one of the top guesses), he said, arms folded and clearly appalled at the casting. At the very end of the episode, Jeong is shown saying, “I’m done,” and leaving the set. But the show’s producers exhibited a surprising bit of restraint in not milking his response, and also didn’t show fellow judge Robin Thicke going after him, as had been previously reported.

Said Thicke: “This is definitely something I never would have guessed.”

[From Yahoo! Entertainment]

I mean… Fox is still Fox, even if it’s the entertainment division, but I am a bit surprised production minimized the drama and didn’t show much of Ken’s reaction or Robin following him off set. They’re all about doubling down over there so of course exec dude was like “my only regret is that it was spoiled.” I guess this stunt casting got people talking about a show that’s past its prime at this point. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like hype and viewership of these type of singing shows definitely tapers off after the first few seasons so this was probably a grasp at relevancy. It kind of sounds like that from his comments about marketing and jaw-dropping moments. It sucks when shows like this cast terrible people. Sarah Palin appeared on here previously and Sean Spicer was on Dancing with the Stars . At best, casting people like this is pandering to those who already support them and at worst it’s an attempt to normalize and cast them as harmless. And casting Giuliani was pretty egregious considering the past two years. When they asked him why he agreed to be on the show, he said something along the lines of it being because he “hadn’t had a lot of fun lately.” He’d probably have more fun if he wasn’t evil.

Photos credit: Avalon.red and screenshots from Fox via YouTube