Tracy Morgan has apologized for the homophobic “jokes” he told during a performance in Nashville. In the skit, Morgan ‘joked’ that he would stab his son if he acted gay. The 30 Rock star sent an apology to several gay rights groups, saying: “I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville.”
He added the jokes weren’t funny, he’s not a hateful person and doesn’t condone any kind of violence against others. Apology Enough? The Human Rights Campaign says that’s not enough. The civil rights group says in a statement that Morgan is “a role model.”
The vice president for communications for HRC, says in a statement that Morgan “needs to go further than his apology and correct the record: no one should feel ashamed because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and they should definitely not become a victim of violence. … Until he does something meaningful, his brand will remain tarnished.”
GLAAD’s president called on Morgan to “remove these violently anti-gay remarks from his show and send a strong message that anti-gay violence is not something to joke about.”
The man who outed Tracy Morgan as a homophobe and a hater, outed himself in the process. Kevin Rogers attended Morgan’s Nashville show last weekend and wrote about it in a Facebook note. And he had to tell his parents that he is gay. He never told them he is gay, and although he assumed they knew, it had never been a conversation. So, just hours before appearing on CNN, he told his parents. He says his mom “was very supportive and was great. I love her and my dad very much for the way they’ve raised me.”
Tina Fey, both blasted and defended the comic. She said in a statement: “The violent imagery of Tracy’s rant was disturbing to me”. But she added that it 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.”
Chris Rock wrote soon after the news broke “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in world where Tracy Morgan cant say foul inappropriate (stuff) ” Then over the weekend, he wrote: “Tracy Morgan is a tad off we all know that so when Tracy says something I usually don’t take it anymore serious than I would a statement from Gary Busey or Flavor Flav”. When I first heard the statement I thought it was offensive but it also reminded me of my father saying ill kill you if you ever bring home a white girl but after reading everything Tracy said, “wow I get it that (it) wasn’t called for and I don’t support it at all. Now can I please go to the tony awards without getting my a– kicked. Comedian Wanda Sykes went on Twitter to weigh in: Hey, just back from family road trip. Ok, Tracy Morgan. Good thing I was busy because it would have been ugly, name-calling.
