Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons says
Tracy Morgan was devastated to learn he hurt people with his anti-gay
comic routine.
In the routine delivered last weekend
in Nashville, Morgan, the star of NBC's 30 Rock, condoned
anti-gay bullying and said he would stab his son to death if he found
out he was gay.
Morgan apologized for his comedy set on
Friday, but gay rights groups said they hoped he would do more.
Simmons, a strong advocate for gay
rights, told
AOL celebrity blog Popeater that Morgan had cried over the
incident.
“He was so happy to hear my voice,”
Simmons said about a phone call he made to the comic. “He had been
crying. He was really devastated. He spilled his guts to me.”
Simmons published a transcript of his
conversation with Morgan at
the site GlobalGrind.com.
The 42-year-old Morgan reiterated to
Simmons that he was sorry for his comments and added that he believes
in gay rights: “I believe everyone deserves the right to be happy
and marry who they want to; gay, white, black, male or female. Let
me know where the rally's at Russ. I'm there!”
On Monday, he agreed to meet with
troubled LGBT youth from the Ali Forney Center in New York City and
committed to participate in GLAAD's upcoming Amplify Your Voice
video campaign to combat anti-LGBT bullying. He'll also return to
Nashville with Simmons to make a public statement in support of gay
rights.
Several
openly gay celebrities, including
George Takei, Cheyenne Jackson and Wanda Sykes, had harshly
criticized Morgan. However, fellow
comic Chris Rock came to Morgan's defense, suggesting he had a
right to say outrageous things.
Florida
Representative Allen West fired
an intern who retweeted a message of support to Morgan's son from
Scissor Sisters vocalist Ana Matronic.