HOLLYWOOD - MARCH 15: Comedian Adam Carolla performs at the Alliance for Children's Rights "Right to Laugh" fundraiser at the Catalina Club on March 15, 2010 in Hollywood, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesAdam Carolla has been under fire for what lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media watchdog groups are calling offensive comments made my the talk host last week and now he has issued an apology – sort of.
“I’m sorry my comments were hurtful,” he tells TMZ. “I’m a comedian, not a politician.”
Last week, Carolla went on an apparent diatribe, which offended the LGBT community. It included commentary on gay marriage stemming from the recent Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie gay controversy, in which he said gay people should “get married and shut up.” He also apparently said that LGBT people should just call themselves “Yuck,” then ended the tirade with the question, “When did we start giving a s–t about these [transgender] people?”
Carolla’s apology may leave gay media watchdog groups, like the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), unsatisfied as the organization denounced Carolla’s comments on Monday. In a press release, it said it would be reaching out to the talk show host and encouraged his audience to educate itself about the challenges LGBT people face.
“Given his history of anti-gay and racist comments, networks and advertisers should know what their money is supporting if they choose to hire Adam Carolla,” said GLAAD’s Senior Director of Programs Herndon Graddick. “The gross intolerance that he tries to pass off as comedy should not have a place on our airwaves.”
This isn’t the first time Carolla has offended the LGBT community. On a 2009 broadcast of his radio show, Loveline, he said that “all things being equal” – gay parents are “not as good as” straight parents.
[Update: GLAAD issued a statement in response to Carolla’s apology and continued to call on community members, networks and advertisers to take notice: “Adam Carolla has a history of making anti-LGBT and racist statements,” said Graddick. “Networks and advertisers should remember that attacking people who are different from him, and following it with empty apologies, is just a regular part of Carolla’s routine.”]
Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro
