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There’s a moment in history that I wouldn’t have missed had I been given a few hour’s advance notice: Koko interviews (the late) Mr. Rogers. (Koko met other celebrities as well, including The Shatner, and she groped him.)
Koko, as you might recall, was born in captivity in the San Francisco Zoo in 1971, and was taught Ameslan, American Sign Language. She has a vocabulary of around 1,000 words/signs, and is the only simian to ever be involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
According to Wiki, she refers to people as “nipples” and pressured female attendents to remove their shirts and underclothing. Koko is also the only gorilla to retain a lawyer –I would love to find out how she chose one– and the lawsuit was settled in 2005.
Not sure how much Koko had to pay, or where the money came from since she hasn’t held a job for all of her 39 years. Regardless, if I ever meet Koko I’ll ask her about Ameslan and how to sign “It’s time now for The Overnight Open Thread.”
Tags: Ameslan, gorilla, Koko, lawsuit, Mr. Rogers, Open thread, Sexual Harrasment, William Shatner
