Bulls mascot once made a 'Jerry Springer' appearance

Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull. Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Remembering when Bulls mascot made a 'Jerry Springer' appearance

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 4/27/23

Famed talk show host Jerry Springer died on Thursday at the age of 79 following a fight with pancreatic cancer, and it has produced some memories of his longtime — and controversial — daytime talk show that centered on contentious storylines.

Naturally, there is a sports angle to it all.

The angle: A brief appearance by Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull.

Like most Springer segments and episodes, it was clearly staged and involved Benny being told by a woman that she was seeing somebody else because he is just too busy and never around.

After all, he had 41 home games to deal with, not including the playoffs, and who knows how many promotional events to appear at. He just became neglectful. It happens. At that point, a giant inflatable Benny came on stage and delivered a head-butt to the original Benny.
Great times.

The entire thing was used as a scoreboard video at a Bulls game during a stoppage.

"The Jerry Springer Show" was filmed in Chicago, so the connection to the Bulls was a natural one to make. Along with being a longtime daytime talk-show host, Springer was also the mayor of Cincinnati for one year in 1977, while also running for congress and governor of Ohio.

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