Dennis Rodman Arrives at Vatican on an Important Mission for Gambling Website

AP
Philip Bump 1,724 Views Mar 13, 2013

As threatened, Dennis Rodman has arrived at the Vatican City, on a mission to promote world peace endorse a candidate for the papacy plug a website.

"Why are you here?" CBS asks. "Ha ha, ah, the same question, why am I here," he replies. "I'm just promoting this website. It's a gambling website, and it's about people who are going to bet on the new pope, and if he's black, you get your money back."

Oh, okay. The website at issue is PaddyPower, an Ireland-based sports betting site, in case you're wondering and in case you want to get your money back. (The Irish have been big on the papal gambling, even as the odds go worldwide.) So, CBS asks, will the next pope be black? "He will be. From Ghana. He'll be black." When he was interviewed by the AP, Rodman seemed a little less certain about the cardinal he was supposed to be promoting.

Incidentally, PaddyPower puts the odds for that cardinal, Peter Turkson of Ghana, at 7/2 — not bad, but not the front-runner. Rodman himself doesn't gamble … "on stuff like that."

CBS also asked Rodman if he thinks a black pope could turn the Catholic church around; there is no reason to share his answer.

"I actually care about the culture of the world," Rodman said, answering questions while wearing a brightly-colored floral jacket on a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Basilica. "Everybody's calling me this world peace guy now, the ambassador of the world. If Obama calls Kim from North Korea, it's like — wow, Nobel Peace Prize, I guess."

Various reporters took pictures of the world peace guy; several put microphones in front of his mouth.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at pbump at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

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