Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander
has apologized for calling cricket a “gay game.”
The 52-year-old Alexander made the
remark while appearing on CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson.
“Oh, have you ever played cricket?”
Ferguson asked his guest.
“I've watched cricket.”
“Cricket's an amazing game.”
“It's a gay game,” Alexander said
with a shake of his head. “There's a lot of people wearing white.
A lot of people wearing white. People wearing helmets for no
discernible reason. People not wearing helmets that look like they
should have a helmet.”
“You know how I know it's really kind
of a gay game? It's the pitch,” he said, demonstrating a sort of
ballet move. “It's not like a manly baseball pitch. It's a queer
British gay pitch.”
Alexander apologized for the remark in
a
statement released through GLAAD.
“The problem is that today, as I
write this, young men and women whose behaviors, choices or attitudes
are not deemed 'man enough' or 'normal' are being subjected to all
kinds of abuse from verbal to physical to societal. They are being
demeaned and threatened because they don’t fit the group’s idea
of what a 'real man' or a 'real woman' are supposed to look like, act
like and feel like,” Alexander wrote.
“For these people, my building a joke
upon the premise I did added to the pejorative stereotype that they
are forced to deal with everyday. It is at the very heart of this
whole ugly world of bullying that has been getting rightful and
overdue attention in the media. And with my well-intentioned comedy
bit, I played right into those hurtful assumptions and
diminishments.”
“And the worst part is – I should
know better. My daily life is filled with gay men and women, both
socially and professionally. I am profoundly aware of the challenges
these friends of mine face and I have openly advocated on their
behalf.”
“So, I can only apologize and I do,”
he added. “In comedy, timing is everything.”