His face smeared with the lipstick of cross-dressed cast members, Downey finally received his prize.
“This is like being on the Van Halen tour,” he said. “I haven’t been this excited since I played pocket pool and watched Animal Planet this morning.”
While Ma and Otal poked fun at Downey’s past roles, ranging from his first movie role in Pound to his work in the little-seen film Rented Lips, the Pudding members avoided mentioning his past drug convictions, a subject which has been much lampooned on late-night TV.
Downey himself referenced his arrests.
“This is the first time a convicted felon has received this award,” he said. “If there’s anything I could teach, I could easily fashion a shiv out of a can of tuna fish.”
In a press conference after the ceremony, Downey fielded questions regarding his brief stay at Harvard.
“There’s something sinister and twisted about the student body here that I appreciate,” he said.
Questioned as to why he was selected as this year’s Man of the Year, Downey shrugged.
“I guess it was because I was available because the first two people they went to turned it down,” the actor deadpanned.
Downey also walked away with a gift basket (estimated value: $5,000) that included goodies such as an Alpha Omega watch.
“Hey, don’t try to jack me on the way to the hotel,” he said.
—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.