Celebrities weigh in on Tracy Morgan’s rant
A number of celebrities -- gay and straight -- weighed in on Tracy Morgan's anti-gay comedic rant over the weekend.
Foremost among them was flip-flopping comedian Chris Rock.
"I don't know about you," Rock had initially Tweeted, "but I don't want to live in world where Tracy Morgan can't say foul inappropriate s---."
Not long after, though, he retracted. "Wow, I get it," Rock responded to the resulting Internet outrage. "That s--- wasn't called for and I don't support it at all. Now can I please go to the Tony Awards without getting my ass kicked?"
Sykes :: some sick s---
Two gay celebrities -- one who works with Morgan on "30 Rock" -- also made statements.
Wanda Sykes wrote: "Tracy has the right to say whatever he wants to say, just like we have the right to say, 'not acceptable' ... as a country. We used to picnic to watch public hangings, but we figured out, that was some sick s---."
Morgan's "30 Rock" co-star Cheyenne Jackson was even more forceful in his condemnation.
In a statement to Out.com, he says, "I am disgusted and appalled by Tracy Morgan's homophobic rant.
"The devastating repercussions of hate-filled language manifest in very real ways... I've known Tracy for two years, spent many long hours with him on set, and I want to believe that this behaviour is not at the core of who he is. I'm incredibly disappointed by his actions, and hope that his apology is sincere."
Like Michael Roberts?
Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, the celebrities most closely associated with "Rock," issued statements yesterday.
"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 told E! News.
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."
Alec Baldwin kept it short and sweet on Twitter when he posted, "Oh that Tracy."
Many reports of Morgan's rant have cited the similarities with Michael Richards' 2006 controversies when he used the "N-word" in his stand-up act. But one pundit, CNN's Roland S. Martin, doesn't feel they are comparable and he came to Morgan's defense.
"Why is comedian and '30 Rock' star Tracy Morgan issuing a mea culpa for saying nasty, vicious and vile things during a stand-up routine? Isn't that par for the course of a comedian?" Martin wrote on his blog. "There isn't enough space on the Internet to chronicle the number of times a comedian has said nasty and vile things. Some of it leading the audience to fall out laughing or sometimes, or as in the case of Morgan, walk out in protest ... Oh yes, you'll say, 'But Roland, you criticized Michael Richards for using the N-word.' Sure did. What's the difference? I said then and now that Richards directly attacked an audience member and his use of the N-word had nothing to do with his routine. If it was in the context of a routine, it would not have been received the same."