How do you solve a problem like Tracy Morgan?
How do you solve a problem like Tracy Morgan?
Issue an apology and then hold your breath appears to be the strategy that the "30 Rock" star and his handlers are following after reports of anti-gay comments he made went viral late last week.
Those comments were published by Kevin Rogers, an irate gay fan, on Facebook after he attended Morgan's June 3 stand-up gig in Nashville.
Amongst what he said in his rant was that:
"Gays need to quit being p---ies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying ... . Gay is something that kids learn from the media and programming."
He also allegedly threatened violence against his own son, should he be gay.
"(He) better talk to me like a man and not in a gay voice, or I'll pull out a knife and stab that little ni---er to death," Morgan said.
Morgan reiterated his belief that homosexuality is a decision, that gay men lacked confidence and doubted that women could be attracted to each other. He also slammed Barack Obama for supporting the LGBT community, allegedly claiming the U.S. President needed to "man up" because he has a wife and two daughters.
Mea culpa
After Rogers' report went viral, Morgan apologized on Friday morning.
"I'm not a hateful person and don't condone any kind of violence against others," Morgan said in a statement. "While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context."
Many gay groups were unmoved by Morgan's apology.
"Jokes that make light of violence directed at gay and lesbian youth aren't only offensive, they put our kids in harm's way," Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President Jarrett Barrios said in a statement. "Tracy Morgan must not only apologize, but assure us that this won't happen again and send a clear message to Americans that anti-gay violence is no joke."
GLAAD said it offered through Morgan's publicist to arrange a meeting between the actor and families who have lost children to anti-gay violence "in order to help him understand exactly why his rant touched so deep a nerve."
In a column published on CNN.com, Barrios added: "My organization, along with many others, have condemned Morgan's comments as much more than simply misguided. They were grossly irresponsible and inexcusable. Moreover, they called to mind the number of families and young people who have had their lives taken or have been brutally damaged by the same anti-gay attitudes and violence that Morgan's jokes reflect."
Words have consequences
Other gay groups chimed in.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) issued a statement by its National Executive Director Jody Huckaby: "As a celebrity, Mr. Morgan needs to understand that his words have power; inciting violence against gay and lesbian kids in the name of comedy - stating that he would stab his own son to death if he was gay - is absolutely unconscionable. A simple apology is not enough."
And the Human Rights Campaign's Fred Sainz admonished Morgan with this statement: "Words have consequences and Morgan should be held to a higher standard. Until he does something meaningful, his brand will remain tarnished."
Two of Morgan's high-profile colleagues on "30 Rock" - Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey - both commented. Baldwin didn't issue a statement, he just tweeted: "Oh that Tracy." Fey was more direct and critical. "The violent imagery of Tracy's rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the GLBT Community," Fey tells E! News in a statement.
Fey went on to say that comic's rant, "doesn't line up with the Tracy Morgan I know, who is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person," adding, "I hope for his sake that Tracy's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers on "30 Rock," without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with, or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket."
Bob Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment also commented. In a statement sent to E!, Greenblatt says, "I speak for NBC and myself personally when I say we do not condone hate or violence of any kind and I am pleased to see Tracy Morgan apologizing for recent homophobic remarks in his stand-up appearance."
"We will always recognize an artist's freedom to express him or herself, but not when reckless things are said no matter what the context. Unfortunately, Tracy's comments reflect negatively on both�"30 Rock" and NBC-two very all-inclusive and diverse organizations-and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated."
A surprising defense
Over at the Huffington Post, there were two very different takes on Morgan's rant. One a surprising defense by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (he won for "Philadelphia") who is presently producing a new film currently in production that features Morgan. In a lengthy (and rambling) piece called "The Contradictions of Tracy Morgan," Nywaner wrote, "I know that Tracy treats everyone on our diverse crew with remarkable respect. Our crew contains a higher than average number of minority members, including several proud, out gay people, and Tracy interacts with everyone in the same gracious, generous, loving way.
"I'm struggling to understand the disparity between Tracy's behavior on our set and the things he said on stage. I certainly can't dismiss nor diminish the pain his statements have caused. And I can't speak for him nor try to guess what he truly thinks about anything.
"But it seems to me that Tracy -- who makes his living in the world of outrageous standup comedy - has channeled the anti-gay anger in our culture and is holding it up for us to examine. The things he said are merely more outrageous versions of homophobic beliefs that all of us live with -- and silently accept -- every day."
He went on to say that Morgan was performing a comedy act, not making a statement on public policy, then brought President Obama and Hilary Clinton's anti-gay marriage as somehow less outlandish, more respectable expressions of the same feelings that Morgan said. "... the beliefs that motivate opposition to gay marriage are not so different from the things Tracy said last week. We wink at the former and condemn the latter when, really, we need to be done with all of it. Perhaps there's not much difference between politicians and stand-up comics, after all."
He concluded with a personal account of his one-on-one with Morgan on the film's set on Friday morning: "Yesterday, on the set of our movie, I sat in a minivan with Tracy Morgan, who wept as he told me about his violent childhood. I cannot understand the brutality of dire poverty or the soul-killing experience of growing up black in racist America. And Tracy cannot understand the pain of a gay child raised in homophobic America, under the constant barrage of taunts, threats of violence, and the ever-present fear of being exposed and rejected. His pain is not mine and mine is not his. Neither of us reached adulthood unscathed by the shared prejudices of our culture. We've arrived at manhood slightly distorted, wounded and limited by our battles. We have been hurt. We make mistakes. But our mistakes are made in a cultural context. Yesterday, while the world Tweeted away, issuing accusations and condemnations, a black, straight comic and a white, gay writer sat in a minivan, crying and trying to understand."
Click here to read his article in full.
Should he be fired?
Offering a differing perspective is Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, who is the Huffington Post's Senior Religion Editor. The title of his column - "Tracy Morgan Should Be Fired" - says it all.
"In a year when we have experienced horrible suicides of LGBT youth which sparked a national movement called "It Get's Better" to not fire Tracy Morgan sends exactly the wrong message at the wrong time. To advocate violence against anyone is disgusting, but against our most vulnerable youth -- it crosses the line.
"After attending seminary I worked for a year with LGBT Youth in Seattle, Washington. Most of the young people I worked with were homeless because of the psychological or physical abuse they had received at the hands of their own family and at their schools. They lived on the streets, crashed on sofas and sometimes even turned to prostitution or other crime because of the 'funny' reality that they could not be gay and welcomed within their own family, schools and community. It is these exact kids, who experienced such trauma at their rejection by those who were meant to love them, that Tracy Morgan is suggesting should be stabbed with a knife within their own home...
"What is even more galling to me as a minister is that Morgan said within his routine that 'God don't make no mistakes.' Yes, that is true. And God made all of us and we are all beautiful and are meant to have lives full of love, security and beauty - including every single gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered child."
He also went on to question the sincerity of the production machine of Lorne Michaels. "Why there has never been an 'out' SNL actor? Is there is some kind of odd sanction of gay bashing within the ranks of that outfit? I just read Tina Fey's hysterical memoir "Bossypants" which shares her important relationships with gay people throughout her life. Clearly Fey must be appalled as are probably most of the other members of the cast. But ultimately, if Morgan stays, it is a signal by the entire "30 Rock" show that joking about gay bashing, and even killing, doesn't really cross the line."
Click here to read the full column.
But while America seems obsessed with Congressman Anthony D. Weiner's weiner, Morgan's story is quickly becoming yesterday's news. Where are the pundits on this one? Where, for instance, is Anderson Cooper who, ironically enough, just finished an excellent three-part report on experimental gay reparation treatments this week? As of early evening Saturday, Cooper has yet to make a statement. For its part, The New York Times reported on the story in its ArtsBeat blog in a story published on Friday.,but there's been little commentary aside from the 50-or-so readers responses. And the always provocative (some might say obnoxious) Ann Coulter weighed in on Sean Hannity's show on Friday saying that if she learned her son were gay she would tell him that he was adopted and then ask for tips about how to redecorate the dining room.