Louis C.K. Defends Tracy Morgan Again

Slate:

The stand-up talks about the new season of Louie and defends Tracy Morgan against charges of homophobia.

Read the whole story: Slate

Comments

[DingoBuzzy]

01:44 AM on 06/22/2011

Which of the complainers here actually HEARD the delivery of the bit?

Anyone who answers "no" has simply been spoon-fed their opinion about this. Inflection, rhythm, emphasis... these all matter. When Daniel Tosh tells all women to get breast implants, does anyone think he actually means that? When Chris Rock said he gets off elevators when white teens get in, does anyone take that seriously? When Carlin suggested eugenics for children, did anyone get outraged?

No. No they didn't. Because we can all hear the delivery. You people are so reactionary... one headline calls it a rant and you go on auto-righteous.

[AnotherTry]

04:59 AM on 06/22/2011

If the delivery was so funny, why did Morgan apologize? He not only apologized, he asked others NOT to defend the indefensible.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:23 PM on 06/22/2011

Because of lemming reactionaries who were fed their outrage by a headline.

[Hypocrites are Watching]

02:18 PM on 06/22/2011

ohhhh DingoBuzzy got you there:)
still fighting the good fight huh...in the shallow end of the pool I see(as usual) guess you cant swim.

[Abejabi]

11:54 AM on 06/18/2011

I am going to stab you.

Is that funny?

[DingoBuzzy]

01:34 AM on 06/22/2011

How did you deliver it?

News flash: Comics speak. The way they choose to speak provides subtext for the joke.

Not the biggest comedy scholar, are ya?

[factsaboutchina]

09:50 PM on 06/17/2011

The hyper sensitivity of America needs to come to an end. Yes, Morgan's comments were over the top. But when on earth did Americans have to put on kid gloves with every subject for fear of offending someone.

[Abejabi]

11:50 AM on 06/18/2011

When handling kids.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:34 AM on 06/22/2011

Ah, so when George Carlin advocated letting children die of their own stupidity, where was your outrage?

[Koeiseun]

09:37 PM on 06/17/2011

He's defending Tracy Morgan's comments to get some/any press exposure. I hope this mediocre "entertainer" banks his lotto winnings...er....I mean his "Louie" show advance....he is gonna need the money some day....

[DingoBuzzy]

01:49 AM on 06/22/2011

Louis is the top stand-up act in the country and Louie has been critically-acclaimed.

Just because you don't know who he is doesn't mean his career is flagging. It means you stopped paying attention after Dane Cook and Larry The Cable Guy.

[liberal123]

08:13 PM on 06/17/2011

Louis CK may be defending Tracy Morgan's comments, but Tracy Morgan is not. He is apologizing and promising to make amends.

[capt ayhab]

08:03 PM on 06/17/2011

CK explains?

So he really didn't mean what he said? Didn't he wish he had a ball or one?

[FrankPembleton]

08:08 PM on 06/17/2011

It was an interview and they asked him about it. He said pretty much the same thing he already tweeted.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:49 AM on 06/22/2011

Read. He didn't back down.

[witz]

07:57 PM on 06/17/2011

Louis couldn't be more right on imo. The taking out of context is ridiculous these days. Louis has repeatedly said that Tracy went over the top on this one. But Tracy's making amends. For God's sake let's give these guys a chance to grow as comedians and humans!

[RiffRaffAmI]

11:58 PM on 06/18/2011

I don't see how anything Morgan said was taken out of context. Growth comes from admitting you were wrong and making amends as Morgan is doing - however it would be nice to see Louis do the same thing. I doubt he would find it funny if someone did a comedy bit on his daughters and violence....but then again....

[DingoBuzzy]

01:50 AM on 06/22/2011

I'm sorry, did you hear him deliver the bit? No?

Then you don't have any clue what you're talking about.

[Chef Dracula]

07:55 PM on 06/17/2011

What IS funny anymore? Especially here on the Huffpost comment scene, there's just hateful spitting and spiteful jabs, just a bunch of over-sensitive whiners who're so UTTERLY offended when the world does not see life exactly as you do. It's all US vs. THEM, the left vs. right, with us or against us. Calm down people. Funny is still in there, you just have to be open to it. Just like love... If you don't get the point, I feel sorry for you.

[sinterp]

09:15 PM on 06/17/2011

I think that's exactly his point. That could totally be funny (and this is a black person saying this), but it completely depends on the context, the tone and the lead up. That's how comedy works. Comedians say racist things all the time and usually the humor is based on the shared acknowledgment from both comedian and audience that what they're saying is completely not socially acceptable. Louis even uses the example of the joke he's used before where he says he thinks "rape is wrong...except in some instances...like when you want to have sex and they say no." That joke works because it's obvious that he's not actually advocating rape. It also works because of his delivery. It's an art that few people possess. All he's saying is judge the line within the whole context of the show and not just the snippet printed out of context.

Think about all the crazy things that Sarah Silverman has said, including her AIDS jokes. Tracy's problem may have been that he assumed that people would give him more benefit of the doubt in not actually believing that he's a homophobe that would stab his own child for being gay. But that's Louis' second point, which is that sometimes jokes don't work, and it's fine to be offended. But to take a bad attempt at a joke and turn it around on the comedian and accuse them of being a hateful person is really unfair.

[Koeiseun]

09:39 PM on 06/17/2011

Or burn his grand baby on a cross if it were born mixed race...THAT'S hysterical......ugh....

[SouthernQ2]

10:40 PM on 06/17/2011

It is so funny when comedians talk about st@bbing gay people to de@th. I really don't know why all the k1lljoys and whiners are picking on poor Tracy.

I'm sure Tracy wouldn't be offended if a white comic did a routine about wanting to burn a cross in his black neighbor's yard.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:41 AM on 06/22/2011

If you didn't hear the delivery, you're just farting onto the board.

Inflection, rhythm, emphasis... these things DO matter.

Stop being goaded into a conclusion by a headline and a transcript. Most comics' bits would look offensive if written in black and white and put under the headline of "rant."

Sheep.

[SeanOcali2]

07:45 PM on 06/17/2011

I'll give Louie this much. He's right that it would be a lot better if people could see and hear the show itself, rather than read someone's account of it.

[SouthernQ2]

11:05 PM on 06/17/2011

Tracy Morgan is free to come forward and tell us if there are any errors or misrepresentations in the accounts of what he said. All of the people in the audience can tell us the same thing.

He's certainly not been disputing the account of what he said. He's apologizing and trying to make amends. When you talk about st@bbing your gay son, there is not much potential for it being taken out of context.

[RiffRaffAmI]

11:49 PM on 06/18/2011

Bingo!

[DingoBuzzy]

01:39 AM on 06/22/2011

Did YOU hear the delivery?

No?

Ah... so basically your opinion came from 'twixt your butt cheeks.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:51 AM on 06/22/2011

Exactly. Nobody here heard it, so anyone who pretends they know is simply trying to be outraged.

[Chef Dracula]

12:29 AM on 06/23/2011

The sheeple just need someone to hate. They turn on their computers, zip on over to the HuffPo and scroll down the Entertainment page looking for the next celebrity on which to project their feelings of insignificance. It was Tracy's turn.

[liberal123]

07:42 PM on 06/17/2011

Among those who have spoken out against Morgan are Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt and Morgan's 30 Rock co-stars Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Cheyenne Jackson.

Wanda Sykes' tweet:
I fault the TN lawmakers. They've created an anti-gay environment," she tweeted at Morgan. "Don't believe Tracy would be so ignorant in LA. I do believe in free speech, but for a youth in TN or any other numerous place, Tracy just yelled, ‘Fire,’ in a crowded theater.

[breakingpoint]

07:39 PM on 06/17/2011

Comedy is pretty subjective and always political, because, everything is political.

We're talking about clowns with no make up, fools, the cynical truth teller, the provocateur.

What this all boils down to, and I suppose that's anything in life, is the timing.

It's all in the timing.

I wonder how many would be offended listening to the Godfather of rap and the king of the party records Rudy Ray Moore, aka Dolemite.

[Pucifer]

07:38 PM on 06/17/2011

Sure, Louie--there MUST have been gay people in the audience laughing when Tracy Morgan claimed he would s.t.a.b. his son if his son were gay.  You bet.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:52 AM on 06/22/2011

So you, who knows nothing about comedy, are going to pretend we should take you more seriously than a 2-decade veteran.

Ok champ. Whatever you say.

[SouthernQ2]

01:20 PM on 06/22/2011

No one likes a hostile drunk.

[NyJimbo]

07:10 PM on 06/17/2011

Remember: Louis C.K. is incredibly hilarious to people who think that Louis C.K. is incredibly hilarious

[SeanOcali2]

07:46 PM on 06/17/2011

Are you suggesting he's not hilarious? I have yet to hear of anyone who doesn't think he's funny. Who else do you think isn't funny? Chris Rock? George Carlin?

[Chef Dracula]

07:51 PM on 06/17/2011

Lenny Bruce? Richard Pryor? Sure. ALL unfunny. Maybe George Lopez is more his speed.

[DingoBuzzy]

01:38 AM on 06/22/2011

He's also the top comic in the country. Enjoy hating life.

[Turtlenewz]

07:03 PM on 06/17/2011

This guy just wants free PR . It is Over for Morgan This was not Morgans first time

[breakingpoint]

07:40 PM on 06/17/2011

are you looking for attention too?

[Koeiseun]

09:40 PM on 06/17/2011

Exacttly!

[HappyAtheist666]

06:54 PM on 06/17/2011

I mean Louis CK "Isn't" making excuses for him.

[HappyAtheist666]

04:38 PM on 06/18/2011

HA! I put this up to correct the actual post I posted about this, and they(HuffPost) took it off!