Chelsea Handler, host of the E! channel’s late night comedy talk show “Chelsea Lately,” today on Twitter wrote:
I have a problem with this, and said so on Twitter. Some folks agreed, some didn’t. Those who didn’t included a gay journalist, which certainly surprised me.
My point is this: It doesn’t matter WHO makes a slight or slur, it matters that it was said, and WHO hears it.
Some said that they were “tired” of us eating our allies alive. I confess, I have no idea who Chelsea is, or what she says, I just know it was a slur by someone in the public eye, and that her two million plus Twitter followers saw her comment.
Everyone has a responsibility to be fair and honest. Those with a public platform have that responsibility to an exponential degree.
Coming to my defense and illustrating my point, a Twitter friend responded,
“How abt ‘You may call them gardeners, I call them Latino.’ or, ‘You may call them basketball players, I call them Black’.”
Exactly.
Making fun of someone simply because of WHO they are is never OK.