Jim Carrey Defended Cameron Diaz From Creepy Chris Isaak

No one should shed a tear for companies like Spectrum, Cox and Comcast as the bloated business of basic cable goes belly up. But pour one out for us — we lost something amazing when early cable mainstays like MTV switched from music videos and trashy reality shows to a round-the-clock diet of Ridiculousness. Specifically, we’ve been deprived of the unpredictable madness of the early MTV Movie Awards. 

In the early ‘90s, no comedy star was on a bigger heater than Jim Carrey, delivering Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask in the span of a single calendar year. The most unlikely hit might have been The Mask, in which Carrey’s bumbling Stanley Ipkiss uses his newfound superpowers to rescue a nightclub singer, played by Cameron Diaz, from the clutches of sleazy gangsters.  

Carrey was nominated for five MTV Movie Awards in 1995, sometimes competing against himself in the same category. It was just the show for Carrey, a younger, hipper version of the Oscars. You could count on a few outrageous moments when outside-the-box awards like Best Kiss were handed out. And it made sense for Diaz to present that prize, considering that her Mask co-star Carrey was up for the honors alongside Lauren Holly for Dumb and Dumber. Diaz’s co-presenter was retro-crooner Chris Isaak, the pompadoured singer still riding the fumes of his 1989 hit single, Wicked Game. The two took the stage to announce the winners, with Isaak deciding national television was the appropriate place to commit borderline sexual assault.

Maybe this was Isaak’s idea of a bad joke — we’re presenting the award for Best Kiss, so why not engage in a little liplock ourselves? Except Diaz wasn’t having it, forcibly pushing off Isaak multiple times. “Come here, baby,” Isaak kept repeating while moving in for the kill.

“On the director’s say-so!” Diaz repeated back, emphasizing that the night’s honorees made out consensually and only when the cameras were rolling. 

But Isaak wouldn’t take no for an answer, grabbing Diaz’s wrist, neck and hair before eventually planting one on her. “I knew you’d come around,” he smirked. The whole scene is especially shocking considering the clear look of anger and disgust on Diaz’s face as she attempts to fend him off. This isn’t fun awards banter — it’s personal boundaries being crossed to an appalling degree. 

When Carrey and Holly were announced as Best Kiss winners, the comedian decided that two could play the degradation game. While Holly made a beeline to accept the trophy, Carrey went straight for Isaak, grabbing his face and forcing a monster kiss just as unwanted as the one Isaak gave Diaz. It was a Stanley Ipkiss move, putting a sleazeball in his place after things were taken a step too far. 

Humiliated, Isaak wiped his mouth and skulked back into the shadows, a victim of his own wicked game.