Carlito may be famous for spitting apple in the face of people who do not want to be cool, but he has no interest in doing it to fans who actually ask for it.
During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE United States Champion revealed that one of the most common requests he gets at conventions is also one of the strangest. Fans regularly offer to pay Carlito to recreate his signature television moment directly in their faces. He is not doing it.
“What I’m asked the most is to spit in their face. They go, ‘How much you charge to spit in my face?’ I’m like, why would anybody even want that, number one. Number two, I think that’s a lawsuit. I mean, they could come back and sue me. Please stop asking this request. I don’t do it.”
It is easy to understand why fans associate Carlito with an apple. The gimmick has been part of his identity since his original WWE run, with Carlito taking a bite before launching it into the face of anyone he considered uncool. That works on wrestling television. At a meet-and-greet, Carlito clearly sees it as a legal headache waiting to happen.
There is still one apple-related request he will accept. Carlito said fans often bring apples for him to sign, including real ones that are not exactly built to last as collectibles.
“Yeah, all the time. I sign fake ones, but a lot of times they’ll bring me a real one. I don’t know why, they’ll be dead, you know, be rotten in a day. But they say they have all kind of plans. They’re gonna put them in a plastic bag or put them in the freezer. Whatever.”
The conversation then took the only direction it possibly could, with the exchange ending on a line about just how long an apple can apparently remain meaningful to a dedicated fan.
“Tree sperm lasts forever.”
Carlito’s apple-spitting routine remains one of the most recognizable parts of his career, but fans hoping to pay for the full experience are out of luck. He will gladly sign the fruit, whether it is plastic or headed for a freezer bag, but nobody is getting sprayed in the face for a convention photo.
Would you ever bring Carlito an apple to autograph, and can you blame him for refusing the spit-take request? Leave your feedback in the comments.