Considering how much traffic my two previous Jersey Shore posts have gotten with both general searches about the show and several specific inquiries about Snooki getting punched in the face, I figured this news would be interesting to you guys. According to a Hollywood Reporter release, MTV will not be showing the actual punch on the show tomorrow night. I just realized that this is actually from the 14th, so this might be old news, but who cares? The story has a quote from “MTV” saying that things have been taken out of context and misinterpreted, but I’m guessing it’s what the next paragraph has to say that explains why they won’t be showing the punch heard around the shore…and world (props to Em for that one):

The move comes after MTV programming president Tony DiSanto pledged a “hands off” approach to the docuseries and said that online controversy wasn’t going to change the show’s content. With two sponsors having pulled out of the program, however, the series has caused headaches at the network despite the show’s ratings climbing for its second episode last week.

So, yeah, this definitely sounds like a money thing to me, which is kind of funny. Had they not advertised the hell out of the punch and gotten people so interested in what happened, they wouldn’t be having this kind of trouble, but they also might not have the ratings they already do. I guarantee even with this news getting out there that the ratings for tomorrow’s episode will still be huge. And let’s face it, what’s the point of not showing something one day and showing it another? It’s been seen. The “damage” has been done. This reminds me of when Stephen slapped Irene on Real World Seattle. I don’t remember if that was highly publicized leading up to the episode (I’m sure it was, but whether they actually showed the contact in commercials or not is beyond my memory bank capabilities). In the end, they showed it, showed the reactions of the housemates and the repercussions. I’m not saying whether they should show the punch tomorrow night or not, but pulling it now seems a little funny. Of course, using an image of a woman getting punched square in the face by a man in a bar in a commercial wasn’t the best idea in the first place.

Thoughts?