We can't say we were surprised that Dr. Jan Adams, the tele-friendly plastic surgeon who performed twin procedures on Donda West the night before she died, would grant his first interview to bony-shouldered broadcast legend Larry King. Wriggling free from the CNN interviewer's trademark softballs and tenuous grasp of the facts on any subject plopped before him, after all, is a damage-control rite of passage for celebrities who suddenly find them tumbling down shit-filled rapids without a life-vest or paddle.

What's less clear, however, is why the doctor bothered taking the pilgrimage all the way to the studio, only to squander his allotted hot-seat time by making vague references to "honoring [the West] family's wishes," then abruptly ending the interview with a yank of his ear-piece. (Even more confused was King himself, who, robbed of comforting routine, proceeded to direct questions at an empty chair for the following 55 minutes.) Teasing an American public with the promise of some old school gladiatorial thrills, then yanking that sweet, blood-soaked candy away from them, seems hardly the wisest strategy for such a media-savvy medical personality as Adams.