[Timesink]

Guess we can look forward to a Judds/Dixie Chicks tour pretty soon ... in Europe.

[Illbay]

So you have NEVER seen any of the current crop of "hip-hop" dance acts, and NOT thought "hm, tribal"?

[dead]

Now I wish I watched it. She sounds loopy.

[WoodlandsTXFreeper]

Famous country singers are truly screwing the pooch this week, no?

[pfflier]

Howard Cosell lost his job over exactly that word in exactly that context.

[Moonman62]

Calling the ghost of Howard Cossell.

[Amerigomag]

I always have a problem with articles that don't provide quotes.

Print the quote. Let me be the judge.

[Illbay]

YOU ONLY THINK THESE GUYS ARE "TRIBAL"!

[Paul Atreides]

Yet, it was okay, even encouraged, when Harry Belafonte said worse things about Condi and Powell. I guess some people truly are more equal than others.

[ServesURight]

People like Naomi are incapable of comprehending the real talent that black entertainers have displayed throughout history.

They instead resort to knee-jerk, animal comparisons that reveal their caveman-like complex.

Ever see the movie "Drumline?" Just look at the way the black marching band performs. Look at how the black cheerleaders execute. Much, much more energy and livelier than what you'll see from a white marching band and cheerleaders.

[jwalsh07]

More PC run amuck, I refer to my granddaughter Meggy as a monkey all the time. She is a born climber.

[Timesink]

NEWS - Naomi Judd Defends Racial Comments

03/4/2003

(3/14/03, 1 p.m. ET) -- Naomi Judd is taking heat for a racially insensitive comment she made last week on Star Search. While judging contestants, Judd referred to a black dancer as a "monkey," then commented favorably on "white people" tap dancing after a trio of Caucasian dancers finished their performance.

CBS's switchboard was reportedly flooded with calls and complaints following her remarks. "I was stunned," a source tells MSNBC. "She said it in a way that was meant to be funny and playful, but it was astonishingly racist and insensitive."

Judd defended her comments to the Tennessean, saying that she thought contestant Steven Bass used some elements of the "Funky Monkey" dance in his routine. "In my opinion, the talented Steven Bass appeared to be doing a hip-hop version of that dance," said Judd. "It never crossed my mind that it could be taken racially."

Judd apologized for any misunderstanding. "I am extremely distraught that comments I made on the show have somehow been construed as to be hurtful," Judd said. "My whole life's message has always been to unite people. I created the song 'Love Can Build A Bridge' for just that reason. I offer my sincere apologies to anyone who doesn't know me and misunderstood my comments as offensive or hurtful. I have the utmost respect for all of the performers on Star Search, and take my role as a judge seriously."

Along with Judd, celebrity hosts on the show include Ben Stein, Kathy Lee Gifford, Usher, and Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The next episode of Star Search, hosted by Arsenio Hall, airs Friday (March 14th) at 8 p.m. ET.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

[GraniteStateConservative]

Naomi is our goofball. Natalie Maines is Ann Richards' goofball and Ann can keep her.

[HEY4QDEMS]

“She said it in a way that was meant to be funny and playful, but it was astonishingly racist and insensitive.”

IOW 'we know she didn't mean anything by it but we don't care"

[t4texas]

I thought she had some sort of terminal illness several years ago?

This brings to mind the time in 1984 Joe Bob Briggs (Monstervision, Iron Joe Bob, &c.) slammed Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, et al in his drive-in movie review Joe Bob Goes to the Movies) titled' "We Are The Weird!" and got fired from the Dallas Morning News.

Hindsight? 20/20!

[savedbygrace]

It's so obvious. She thought the guy was French.

No harm, no foul.

[F.J. Mitchell]

I watch a little World Wrestling Entertainment these days,, mostly because some of the Wrestlers are very amusing in their dialog, especially the one called "The Rock", I've never heard his ethnicity mentioned, but I would bet a dollar to a dough nut he is African American. (You are welcome, Rock, or I apologize, depending on your reaction to my assumption.) The Rock calls everybody a monkey from time to time, regardless of race or ethnicity, and it is very funny. THe funniest part it seems, after reading this assinine attack upon, Naomi Judd, is that no one has been offended by being called a monkey by the Rock, or ever dreamed of calling him a raciest.

I don't know Ms Judd, but having read the story of her trials and tribulations, and the success she made of her own life, while setting the example for the success her children have attained as well-it is unbelievable that any rational person could twist her innocent remarks into racism.

The more of this petty crap we hear, the sickener it becomes. Not that those who profit from race baiting give a damn, but a shaved monkey is white. That doesn't make it the son of a European though, anymore than it's hair and features make it an African human. It's just a monkey.

Those who seek to destroy Naomi Judd's reputation over these innocent remarks is neither human or monkey, they are low life SOB's!

[Dems_R_Losers]

I think we are being very niggardly about this..........

[Goodman26]

Now let's hope she doesn't go overboard apologizing.
If her intentions were pure -- and it seems even her critics are saying they were -- she needs to get indignant and counterattack and not act like she is a racist caught in the act. She doesn't need to follow the Lott, Moran, Brando, example, and start a crying mea culpa.

[Redcloak]

[sweetliberty]

Okay, so let me see if I understand this. We can no longer compare the appearance of dancers/dances to certain animals, at least not if they happen to be black (the dancers; not the animals....I guess), and we can't use the word "tribal" to describe certain dances because that is somehow derogatory and it is inappropriate to say you like watching some people (of a particular color) dance certain dances because it may be considered inversely biased against people of another color who either are widely considered or consider themselves to own a particular style of dancing. I sure am glad we have freedom of speech in this country. < /sarcasm >