The bling is not the thing for Mr. T. At least not anymore.
The A-Team alum has gone from pitying the fool to pitying the fool's gold, announcing he has retired the acres of gold chains that were as much a part of his personality as his mohawk and catchphrases.
The larger than life personality made the renouncement during the Television Critics Association summer conference Thursday while promoting his upcoming TV Land self-help series, I Pity The Fool.
Mr. T claimed the devastation he witnessed during Hurricane Katrina made him rethink priorities and, in turn, his wardrobe.
He broached the topic of his makeunder after being questioned on his relatively subdued, tie-donning appearance.
"I won't wear it no more. It's put up," he said. "I stopped wearing the gold as of last year during Katrina. See, as a spiritual man, I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again because I spent a lot of time with the less fortunate.
"When I saw the people starving and crying and pleading just for water and suffering, losing everything, and I saw some, I call it 'sorry celebrities.' They'll go down there and hook up with the people to take a photo-op. I said, 'How disgusting.'
"If you're not going down there with a check and a hammer and a nail to help the people, don't go down there."
The erstwhile B.A. Baracus said that he wasn't worried about the drastic change in his image.
"No. The gold is in my heart. So people now on my show, they'll see the gold is in my heart. As a matter of fact, I'll be doing so good you will forget about the gold I used to wear."
He also said the transition from tough guy to tender guy--just two of the many adjectives he claims his "T" stands for--wasn't as about-face as it may be perceived.
"I'm always helping people. You guys are just now picking up on that. You're having a hard time because you see me as that tough guy," he said, claiming the Mr. T the public has grown to love is simply his alter ego.
"All superheroes, you know, like Clark Kent, Superman, Batman, Bruce Wayne, you know, so why not Mr. T? I never thought about shaking the image or nothing like this...The only thing, I'm just not wearing the gold."
As if the loss of gold chains wasn't enough for fans to take in, the TV star also said a change of--gasp--hair style may not be far off as well.
"I'm getting kind of old, so the hair is falling out, you know. So I will let nature do its course...even if I go bald, my message will still be the same.
"My message hasn't changed, but my clothes have."