Jerry Lewis Apologizes For Anti-Gay Slur (Calls Character "Illiterate Faggot" During Telethon!)

WCBS TV ^ | Lou Young

[MindBender26]

(CBS) NEW YORK Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day telethon raised more money than ever for muscular dystrophy, but a slur that slipped out during the televised event is overshadowing that accomplishment.

The outburst occurred 18 hours into the grueling 22-hour long broadcast from Las Vegas where the 81-year-old comic legend lapsed into bit of derisive humor about imaginary family members.

"Oh, your family has come to see you," he said, speaking to the camera and gesturing toward thin air.

"You remember Bart, your older son," he said, and motioning toward another unseen character, "Jesse, the illiterate f-----.

"No," Lewis said, quickly stopping himself before continuing.

Lewis then slinks off-camera seemingly in character, perhaps realizing what he's just said on live television.

Those who spend their days trying to keep a lid on anti-gay bias and violence are dismayed.

"Doing something wonderful and amazing, he tainted that with doing something really horrible," said Kim Fountain of the Anti-Violence Project.

"An apology would be wonderful."

On Tuesday night, gay rights groups got their apology. In a statement, Lewis said it was "a bad choice of words," and "I apologize to anyone who was offended. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard."

He concludes by saying "I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses."

[ctdonath2]

Methinks the kicker is that while he gets reamed for saying it once by accident, reporters gleefully & deliberately repeat it loudly and frequently - without consequence.

[Nextrush]

The Gaystapo.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

In other news, the ACLU has petitioned for the letters F, N, and Q to be removed from the English alphabet.

[HawaiianGecko]

  I keep wondering why I can't have my culture.  Where I come from (high income, overly educated family) the words faggot, fairy, queer and I'm sure a few others were nothing more than labels for a homosexual.  I don't  remember any of them being any more derisive than calling a construction worker a hard hat.

I come from a culture where we believe that words are simply words, old sayings like sticks and stones are grounded in tradition and reality, people were secure enough not to be offended by the arrangement of letters, and people were a bit more impervious to criticism.

Just the sheer number of jokes I can no longer tell because of the proclivities of a society full of panty waist liberals is staggering.

I'm proud of who I am, where I came from, how I was raised, my vocabulary; and I want these pissants to respect my culture.

[Obadiah]

LOL. NOT FUNNY! (Because it’s probably true.)

[synbad600]

My gay friend told me that he only gets offended when someone says faggot as a slur. If you are using it in fun, he could give a crap.

[Sensei Ern]

“Any entertainer worth his salt knows not to cross that line.”

I do a bit about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. And I feel I am worth my salt.

Larry the Cable Guy does queer jokes and he gets more for one show than most people get in 10 years of work.

Milton Berle used faggotry as the brunt of many of his jokes.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I forgot to add: “and other letters to be named later” ;^)