CONTROVERSIAL 'RACER' CLASHES WITH REALITY-SHOW HOST JOE ROGAN
'FEAR' FIGHT
By DON KAPLAN
May 31, 2006 -- UGLY confrontations seem to follow Jonathan Baker wherever he goes.
This time Baker - the L.A. hothead who famously shoved his wife on national TV almost two years ago - appears to have gotten into a fist-fight with "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan while filming the NBC guts 'n' gross-out reality show.
Baker says that during a grueling challenge involving live alligators, his wife, former Playboy Playmate Victoria Fuller, became frightened and upset. She was heckled by "Survivor" bad-boy Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton, who allegedly shouted obscenities and, according to Baker, Rogan joined in.
Baker claims he tried to remain silent, but after a few minutes, "I had to defend my wife."
He says he told Rogan, "Enough!" and that's when the host slugged him. Twice.
"Clearly, Joe has issues," says Baker.
"When you're on one of these shows, you sign a piece of paper that's supposed to protect you," he says. "I don't care if you're being thrown off the Empire State Building [as a stunt], you're supposed to be kept safe. At the end of the day, when we went on this show, we weren't protected from the host."
He says that during the filming of the reality-stars edition of "Fear Factor," producers warned him and other contestants to stay away from Rogan.
That didn't happen.
In a clip posted on both Baker's Web site and the official "Fear Factor" Web site to promote the June 6 (8 p.m./Ch. 4) telecast, the two are seen wrestling briefly before being pulled apart by another contestant.
Baker says that producers will probably edit the show to make it look like he started the fight.
"During our taping of 'Reality Stars Fear Factor,' there was an altercation between Jonathan Baker and Joe Rogan," "Fear Factor" executive producer Matt Kunitz said in a statement. "Our cameras documented the entire event, which will show our viewers that Mr. Baker has a false recollection of the incident.
"We encourage everyone to tune in and see for themselves."
Baker first drew attention to himself in December 2004, when he shoved Victoria in anger after losing a challenge on "The Amazing Race." He has since publicly apologized - and been defended by Victoria - attributing his behavior to a medical condition.
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