Tina Fey: Tracy Morgan’s “Violent Imagery” “Disturbing.” NBC Warns Morgan

NBC 30 Rock star Tina Fey called the “violent imagery” of co-star Tray Morgan’s anti-gay homophobic rant “disturbing,” in a statement issued Friday night through NBC.

“I’m glad to hear that Tracy apologized for his comments,” Tina Fey said. “Stand-up comics may have the right to ‘work out’ their material in its ugliest and rawest form in front of an audience, but 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. 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 coworkers 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.” Fey added, “The other producers and I pride ourselves on 30 Rock being a diverse, safe, and fair workplace.”

 

POLL – Tracy Morgan: Is his apology sufficient? • Tracy Morgan Rant: The Man Who Outed The Anti-Gay Comedian, And Himself • TRACY MORGAN: “Apology” Not Accepted? • Tracy Morgan: Lesbians Hate Men, I’d Stab, Kill My Son If He Were Gay

 

NBC’s Chairman Bob Greenblatt, stating clearly that Tracy Morgan had been “warned,” said, “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 standup appearance,” Greenblatt said, adding, “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.”

It remains unclear what “will not be tolerated” means. While Morgan issued a quick and slick apology, it was clear that it was insufficient, as major LGBT organizations have stated.

“Tracy Morgan exercised extremely poor judgment and he did the right thing by apologizing,” said Fred Sainz, HRC vice president for communications, who earlier had also called on NBC to “condemn these atrocious comments.”

“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.”

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios had also called on Tracy 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.”

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