After laughing at Jimmy Kimmel's poke
at Marcus Bachmann's sexuality, CNN host Don Lemon was called out to
explain his laughter.
Kimmel, the host of ABC's late night
talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, poked fun at celebrities,
politicians and the president as the featured comedian at this year's
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.
In one joke, Kimmel let loose on Marcus
Bachmann, the husband of Minnesota Congresswoman and former GOP
presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. The Bachmanns own two
clinics in Minnesota which allegedly attempt to “cure” gay people
of their sexuality.
After joking that ousted Current TV
host Keith Olbermann had received “more pink slips than Marcus
Bachmann,” Kimmel looked into the audience and asked Mr. Bachmann
to stand up, at which point actor Eric Stonestreet, who plays gay on
Modern Family, stood up and waved to the audience.
Lemon and contributor LZ Granderson got
called out for laughing at the joke by contributor Will Cain.
“I'm genuinely curious here. If, as
the joke suggests, Marcus Bachmann is gay, but he hasn't come to
grips with himself, now I'm asking two guys who have been through
this process – honestly, I'm honestly curious – why is it okay to
make fun of him, then? Is it just because of his politics or because
he's a public figure? I'm really curious. Why is it okay?” Cain
asked.
Granderson replied: “You know what,
Don and I have been friends for years, but, you know, I wasn't around
Don as a teenager, so I don't know if he tried to convert gay people
or not. But it just seems funny that when you are having flamboyant
mannerisms and your livelihood is converting, you know, gay men to
being straight, it's just funny. It's funny man. I don't even care
what his politics happen to be. It's just kind of a funny thing when
you juxtapose the two images.” (Watch
the segment at Mediaite.com.)