Comedian Adam Carolla's apology for a
homophobic rant, in which he said gay people should get married and
shut up because they are ruining his life, has failed to mollify the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
GLAAD on Monday called on the
47-year-old Carolla to apologize.
“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
Herndon Graddick, senior director of programs at GLAAD. “The gross
intolerance that he tried to pass off as comedy should not have a
place on our airwaves.”
“I'm sorry my comments were hurtful,”
Carolla said in a statement. “I'm a comedian, not a politician.”
The controversy stems from Carolla's
comments during last Thursday's episode of The Adam Carolla Show.
“Oh, shut up,” Carolla whined.
“Can the gays shut up? Just get married and please shut up.
You're ruining my life.”
In the episode, Carolla discussed an
online petition calling on the producers of Sesame Street to
allow puppets Bert and Ernie to marry.
“Yeah, Bert and Ernie butt fucking
are going to save a lot of lives. It's going to be awesome.”
“And what does the BLT stand for?”
he added, referring to the acronym LGBT, and later suggested “YUCK”
would be more appropriate.
Carolla also joked about transgender
people: “When did we start giving a shit about these people?”
(The audio is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
GLAAD called Carolla's apology “empty.”
“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,” GLAAD's Herndon Graddick said.