I was personally loath to drag Tina Fey into this, as I know she's a personal friend of Tracy Morgan. But that said, she too is the creator, head writer, producer and driving force behind his most high-profile, and profitable job, as a co-star on 30 Rock. As such, it is her responsibility to weigh in. Things can get awkward when you employ your friends.
NBC/TINA FEY STATEMENT:
Tina said she's glad Tracy apologized -- but explained, "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 continued, "It also 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.
"I hope for his sake that Tracy's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian co-workers at '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."
NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt claims the network has warned Morgan about the incident -- saying, "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."
If you are unsatisfied with NBC's reaction,
there is a contact form here.
I believe that what Fey delivered would be called a "reading." Among the gay co-stars Morgan shares a set with would Cheyenne Jackson, a part-time cast member. He's been outspoken in the past on LGBT issues, but I can find no reaction to this story as of yet.
Fey's statement is strong. I had faith it would be. She spends no energy excusing or apologizing for the substance of what Morgan said. Fey has been a clarion voice for progressive causes, and as a long-time fan, I can attest her own investment in LGBT inclusive is without question. She has weaved her support seamlessly through so much of the body of her work over the years.
In her Best Comedy Emmy win speech last year, Fey thanked the "gay partners" of 30 Rock staffers for being patient with their partner's long hours while the show was in production. Probably not coincidentally, the 30 Rock show clip that was played as she approached the stage also includes her show's alter-ego Liz Lemon voicing support for gays' right to adopt children. She earned herself a well-deserved award from the gay rights organization, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) last year.
For background on this story, see yesterday's diary. After the fold, reactions from some of the major LGBT rights organizations.
Beyond Apologies
There seems to be a theme that is weaved through the reactions from the major voices in the LGBT community to Morgan's apology. "That's nice. Got anything else?"
From Truth Wins Out
We at Truth Wins Out appreciate Tracy’s apology. We are glad that he recognizes that he hurt and offended people. However, questions remain. When Michael Richards and Mel Gibson had their respective meltdowns, people rightly asked where those sentiments actually came from. And the fact of the matter is, parts of Tracy’s Nashville rant have appeared in earlier performances.
So we wonder: Where do Tracy Morgan’s anti-gay sentiments come from? What leads him to go only so far with anti-gay sentiments and then suddenly let loose with one of the most vicious tirades imaginable? Does he understand why people — LGBT or not, in Tennessee and beyond — were so hurt by what he said?
From Human Rights Campaign:
“Tracy Morgan exercised extremely poor judgment and he did the right thing by apologizing. But that’s just not enough. He’s a role model and Morgan now has a responsibility to make amends for his horribly hurtful and dangerous ‘comedy’ routine. He also 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. Words have consequences and Morgan should be held to a higher standard. Until he does something meaningful, his brand will remain tarnished.”
From Parent and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG):
“At a time when bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth is at an all-time high - when kids are being assaulted, are dying - to joke about committing violence against a child is outrageous and reprehensible. 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 – Mr. Morgan must take meaningful action to prove the sincerity of that apology,” said Jody Huckaby, Executive Director of PFLAG National.
From Carl Siciliano, executive director of Ali Forney Homeless Youth Services in New York City:
“At the Ali Forney Center, we work with hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youths who have endured violent rejection from parents. It is a tragedy that so many parents in our society are so infected with homophobia that they are unable to accept their gay children, and cast them out onto the streets. We appreciate Tracy Morgan’s apology, but wish to invite him to meet with some of our young people who have endured violence and rejection from their families for being LGBT, so that he can better understand the human suffering caused by those who promote homophobia against youths.”
From The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD):
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. "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."
In speaking with his publicist, GLAAD has offered to arrange a meeting between Morgan and family members who have lost children to anti-gay violence in order to help him understand exactly why his rant touched so deep a nerve.
Barrios continued, "If Tracy Morgan is sincere, he should take us up on meeting these families who have lost loved ones to the type of violence that he is mocking. Perhaps by hearing their stories, he will learn that while we all love humor, this is no laughing matter."
I hope Morgan does take GLAAD and other groups up on their offer to provide him with a day of education. I hope that Morgan chooses to share the experience with his large fan base.
I too was underwhelmed by the apology, but apologies are just words. And some acts do call for a display of penance. It is nice that his apology was offered fairly promptly after the story became news. But a close look at the timing might make your wonder if he's sorry, or sorry he got caught?
There was a fairly significant delay between the Facebook call-out and the story making the news. Kevin Rogers posted his note on Facebook on June 4. I became aware of the story when it became a hot topic on Twitter on June 9. This was concurrent with the blog Unicorn Booty posting an article on the incident. It seems their savvy framing of the story with its sensational—although not inaccurate—headline "Tracy Morgan Threatens To Kill His Son If Gay During Homophobic Tirade Onstage" may have played a big part. The site is claiming 60,000 hits for the piece.
It appears Morgan's publicist, Nicole Chabot, made the decision to evolve from her "no comment," response she had been giving bloggers to prompting Morgan to apologize only at the same time the New York Times gave her a call. Considering the witness Kevin Rogers was on CNN within hours of the release of the apology, I'm going to guess this also gave Ms. Chabot a head's up from CNN's producers that this story would soon be breaking out of the gay blogs and Twitter/Facebook universe.
And the apology itself does not withstand parsing very well. The statement that his humor is "equal opportunity," seems to try to obfuscate this as though this is a run of the mill offense. While granted there is a strong vibe of misogyny that runs through his act, I'm not aware of him making humorous plays on violence to Jews, Hispanics, or even women.
And then there is the suggestion that he "went too far" in some way implies that there are appropriate ways to express the ideas he was attempting to conveying through humor. They include:
- Being gay is a choice and that being gay is something that kids learn from the media.
- Victims of anti-gay bullying are simply 'whining.'
- President Obama is wrong to be addressing the issue of school bullying.
- President Obama is wrong to have shown empathy and support for gay kids.
- Having a gay or gender non-conforming child is unacceptable
- A violent reaction to finding out your child is gay or gender-nonconforming is acceptable (and funny).
These are not ideas that "went too far." They were too far from the starting point.
gchaucer2 nicely pointed out in a comment, this is really not only about just one man's words. Witness Kevin Rogers said on CNN he’s “ashamed” to admit that there was “a lot of applause.”
This is the heart of the hubbub, what is acceptable public discourse on LGBT issues? Can anyone really defend the core message that violence and bullying toward kids is not a serious problem? Is the serious problem of LGBT hate crimes good fodder for comedy? We find Morgan expressing ideas that even some of the most heinous conservatives in our political system are loath to express openly. But Morgan is getting applause, admiration and money for them.
And how ironic this should have happened in Nashville, Tennessee, in a state that has passed one horrible anti-gay bill this year, and may well soon pass a second. Just yesterday, a news story was posted on the Inter Press News Service Bureau about the Oasis Center homeless youth shelter in Nashville, Tennessee, it begins:
"Young, Gay and Homeless."
For weeks, a teenage girl living with her grandmother has been grappling over the decision to come out of the closet. The best-case scenario is that her grandmother will disapprove of her sexuality, but will continue to provide loving support. The worst-case scenario? The girl will end up homeless, living on the streets of Nashville.
This predicament isn't uncommon among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Recently, the National Alliance to End Homelessness reported that while gay and transgendered youth make up approximately five to 10 percent of the entire youth population, more than 20 percent of homeless youth identify as such. In some locations, LGBTQ youth comprise as much as 40 percent of the homeless youth population.
Staggering statistics such as these lead many to believe that identifying among the LGBTQ demographic puts an alarming number of young people on the streets. According to Pam Sheffer, a full-time volunteer at Nashville's Oasis Center, the LGBTQ students she works with fall in line with these statistics.
Again, parents rejecting their LGBT children not a funny subject.
But in Nashville, Tennesse, Morgan led a group of people down a path to find great humor in the suffering of gay people.
Morgan, and his handlers, including publicist Nicole Chabot have the opportunity to use the spotlight of Morgan's celebrity to help his fans and followers become more educated, more empathetic, more sensitive to the lives of people that they may not fully understand right now. The invitation has been extended. I certainly hope they chose to make some lemonade out of this unfortunate experience.
7:48 PM PT: Huh. It has come to my attention one of the gay co-workers Morgan may have offended includes his boss, NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt, quoted above.
Bright move, Morgan.
8:36 PM PT: Hmmm... I will be honest, I worry about the wisdom of asking for Jordan to be fired. I get the symbolic win, you know I really do.
But at a time when there is some tension between the African American community and the LGBT community, I fear we'd risk turning his fan base into enemies. And I worry that it would feed a narrative that our communities are at war.
For that reason I endorse GLAAD and Ali Forney's solutions. I see it as a better path to building bridges between communities and a way to engage his fans to care, not laugh at LGBT issues.
I am an idealist, I guess.
10:15 PM PT: To the posters who want Tracy Morgan fired, here's my advice. It appears Fey and NBC are unwilling to do that. But we already have the template of how to pressure them to change their minds. It is a strategy that has worked before: go after 30 Rocks's advertisers. Chances are good as young and hip as that show skews, the advertisers will be very sympathetic to your complaints. Particularly as the show's star Tina Fey probably attracts a lot of progressive viewers.