David Hasselhoff Laughs at Himself at Comedy Central Roast

Aug. 16, 2010— -- The jokes were on David Hasselhoff -- and this time, he was laughing.

The 58-year-old "Baywatch" star was the victim of a Comedy Central roast that aired Sunday night. Few subjects were off limits, including Hoff's infamous cheeseburger video, which features him shirtless, in a drunken stupor, struggling to eat a Wendy's cheeseburger off his hotel room floor.

"How do you make jokes about a joke? How do you embarrass a man who so thoroughly embarrasses himself?" comedian Seth MacFarlane, the roast host, said in his opening salvo. "How do you put someone down when they are already lying shirtless on the floor?"

Hoff's "Baywatch" co-star Pamela Anderson, a vegan and animal rights' activist, piped up to pile on the insults.

"David, I have to say, when I saw the video of you lying on the floor -- drunk, broken down, cheeseburger meat falling from your mouth -- I felt so sad," said Anderson. "For that cow."

Until now, Hasselhoff has said little about the 2007 video shot by his daughter Taylor Ann and later posted on the Internet, or his reported alcohol relapses.

After the video went viral with more than one billion views, he announced in a statement: "I am a recovering alcoholic."

His drinking problem was reportedly the reason NBC's "America's Got Talent" failed to renew his contract in January after he served four years as a judge. He was replaced with comedian Howie Mandel. Hasselhoff's rep maintains that the actor left "America's Got Talent" to pursue his own reality show.

Last year after Hasselhoff was treated at a local hospital, his attorney Mel Goldsman told ABCNews.com, "He's a recovering alcoholic, but he's really been doing great."

"I've been waiting for a forum to talk about where I'm at," Hasselhoff told a reporter from Popeater.com backstage after the roast. "I didn't do it in the beginning because I was in a very personal matter and it involved the custody of my children."

Hasselhoff split from second wife, Pamela Bach, in 2006 amidst accusations of domestic violence. They have two daughters, Taylor, 20, and Hayley, 17.

"I wanted to address [the cheeseburger video] the way I wanted to address it," he said. "And tonight was the way I wanted to address it."

Hasselhoff had on his game face, insisting later that the event was "therapeutic." Sitting in a red oversized lifeguard's chair reminiscent of his "Baywatch" days, he laughed as his friends and peers made light of his darker moments.

"How did I prepare for this?" he said during a mid-roast interview. "I just turned on YouTube and said, nothing can be worse than the crap I've been through already."

"I must admit, I did love you in that cheeseburger commercial you once made," standup comic and "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Jeffrey Ross quipped, adding that the motto from the burger chain must have been "Have it Floor Way!"

"I'm so relieved you're wearing a shirt tonight because it will be so much easier than picking the vomit out of your chest hair later," Ross said.

Hassling The Hoff and Pamela Anderson

Anderson was also the target of some of the jokes.

Talk show host Jeffrey Springer told Hasselhoff, "In your whole life you've never been in anything good -- except Pam Anderson."

MacFarlane joked, "What we remember most about you are Pam Anderson's t**s."

Ross noted the similarities between Hasselhoff and Anderson: "They both made embarrassing videos with meat stuffed in their mouths."

Comedian Lisa Lampanelli attacked Hasselhoff's career -- or current lack of one. For one week in June, Hasselhoff reprised his role as Dr. William "Snapper" Foster, Jr. on "The Young and the Restless." He's also said to have an A&E show in the works. At least he remains a massive star in Germany, where he had a number one song in the 1990s.

"David Hasselhoff's career has become such a huge disaster," Lampanelli joked, "that I just saw an oily pelican fly out of his a*s."

Then, she gave him a hard time about being bounced from his judge's seat on "America's Got Talent."

"What's wrong with you man?" she said. "That's the worst move since Mel Gibson bought his girlfriend a tape recorder."

"Yeah, it goes too far," Hasselhoff said when asked afterward about some of the digs. "That's what they want to do. They want to get to everybody."

"No one got me," added Hoff. "I'm still laughing. My face hurts. I'm sorry it's over."