Tracy Morgan issues statement about anti-gay rant
(CBS) Tracy Morgan has issued an apology - of sorts - through a representative for his homophobic rant last week during a stand-up performance in Nashville, Tenn.
"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," the statement read. " I'm not a hateful person and don't condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context."
Perhaps the most inflammatory thing Morgan said concerned his son. From Rogers' note,
"[Morgan] said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death."
The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement which reads in part, "Hateful remarks that mock youth suicides and the very real emotional and sometimes physical bullying LGBT kids face on a daily basis have no place in a comedy routine."
The HRC said Morgan's employer, NBC Universal, also must "condemn these atrocious comments."
NBC has not yet responded to our request for comment.
In a statement, Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said NBC had taken "an important first step by condemning anti-gay violence" but urged the network to "push Morgan to tell his fans that such violence is not only not funny, but unacceptable."