Stand up comedians often test boundaries, toeing the line between humorous and offensive. But when the offensive line is crossed — especially along the subject of a hate crime — you awaken the unforgiving wrath of the Twittersphere. That’s exactly what actor/comedian Tracy Morgan (30 Rock, Death at a Funeral, Little Man) did during a stand up comedy routine in Nashville, Tennessee.
His comments went viral when a Nashville audience member posted them on Twitter. Morgan reportedly said: If his son was gay, he better come home and talk to him like a man, not in a high-pitched voice or he would pull out a knife and stab him to death, among other things.
Morgan’s comments angered GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Ironically GLAAD previously gave NBC’s 30 Rock, a television sitcom starring Morgan, a media award. The organization called for Morgan (and NBC) to make a formal apology, which he did, saying:
[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”” quotestyle=”style03″]I want to apologize to my fans and the gay and lesbian community for my choice of words. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. [/sws_blockquote_endquote]
A CNN Panel discusses the rant in this CLIP.
What do you make of Morgan’s comments? Are they offensive or just comedy?
And recalling that Isaiah Washington was fired from ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy for making homophobic statements on set, will Tracy Morgan’s rant push NBC to fire him also?
Until I see the clip from the comedy, I am not passing any judgement for soever on what Tracy might have said. I think context is everything.
Are you Gay? That’s what I thought, you don’t know how it feels. So shut up. Tracy is an ass. He shdn have known better when I joke goes too far. He shd’ve known better. This is what happens when parents stop parenting kids like Tracy, they go wayward.
Who says, “I’ll pull out a knife and stab him”? He’s ridiculous and he should go down with it. If NBC doesn’t fire him, I’ll pull out a sniper rifle and fire him myself. Oh, that was a joke!
Savimbi u are hilarious! Exactly, how is that for a joke.
I agree! why can’t we find the actual anywhere????? Here’s the thing… he’s a comedian. He jokes. Some jokes bomb and some joke fly. gays need to “man up/woman up” and stop being so damn sensitive. Hello???? The whole world doesn’t revolve around you or your beliefs. Comedians make crazy racial jokes, jokes about Jesus Christ (Christianity), mentally disabled, suicide. etc. why the hell is it when you make a joke about a homosexual it is all of a sudden a crime????? I’m sick of this ish! GROW UP!
Exactly why are they reporting comedy like it’s news to us? This is comedy, people shd get a grip.
I remember Chris Rock making a joke about FAGS and that didn’t offend any one. I was offended! Why the media picks and chooses who to be scape goat is some strange thing to me. Many comedians make lots of jokes about gays all the time, and for some reason Tracy is to blame. Too far? Nothing is too far in comedy! Too far is subjective! Yes, there’s no news going around right now so Tracy is news.
My dear! Tracy went too far. Let’s accept the fact and come together and pull out a knife and stab him.
@ cricket~ u are so not “tolerant with that remark. Shame on you!!! ((go look in the mirror and be the CHANGE that you wanna see))
A white man with a scandal in the news is not good enough (Weiner) – sets a bad example for our adorable white kids – gotta have a black man, so there, they found Tracy. Now all they have to do is milk every drop outta of it.
1. Should Tracy be fired? Yes
2. For his Anti-Gay Rant? No
3. Why should Tracy be fired then? I don’t know. He said something gay.
4. Seriously, why should he be fired? Because he works for somebody. Who’s gonna fire Chris Rock for his fag jokes? Yes, the guy is someone’s bitch that’s why he can be fired.
Tracy will be fired by NBC. They have no choice now. This thing has gone too far. Tracy went a little too far but the media has escalated this thing to immense proportions. The best thing for him is to drop out of 30 Rock.
Drop out of 30 Rock? It’ll be w shame if he does. A big shame if they get him fired. His comedy was completely innocuous, perhaps, too much but he didn’t mean all that by it.
You call encouraging hate crime ‘innocuous’? Which side of the bed were you born? Left or center? Weigh your thoughts before you shout em.