Rainn Wilson Apologizes For Tweeting Date Rape Joke

We are all for free speech, but we're also for thinking before you tweet -- especially when you're a celebrity.

Actor Rainn Wilson crossed a line on Monday when he tweeted, "If I were ever date raped I would want it to be to 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin."

Twitter seems to compel a lot of people into writing things they probably wouldn't want to record, yet every tweet is currently being archived by the Library of Congress. The joke wasn't funny and understandably offended many people.

To his credit, Wilson did apologize for the offensive remark. On Tuesday morning he deleted the "joke" and tweeted:

Apparently my poorly conceived date-rape tweet upset a lot of folks. Not a good topic to joke about.Sorry & won't do that again.

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) February 21, 2012

We often wonder how celebrities, with armies of publicists and managers hired to protect their reputations and brands, are allowed to tweet such stupid and controversial things. But Twitter has ushered in a new era of tactics that prove there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Chris Brown's recent outburst on Twitter simply generated enough controversy to keep his name a hot topic before he and Rihanna both cashed in on the outrage by simultaneously releasing remixes featuring each other.

Wilson doesn't appear to have any projects in the works that would benefit from courting controversy, and he is known to be a rather random tweeter. Recently, the 46-year-old wrote, "Apparently Freida Kahlo was a terrible party guest, always talking about Diego Rivera's weight & issues of having a uni-brow."

More offensive celebrity tweets:

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[charlesdarwin1]

04:30 AM on 04/28/2012

Weird YES,but a good actor or spiritual guru NO.

[Pearl Jam111]

12:42 PM on 02/22/2012

At least he chose a badass song, I love me some Zep

[maxwelldog]

12:41 PM on 02/22/2012

well, gosh. an intolerant group. Go figure, eh?

This is just another chink in the armor of free speech.
I don't care if it was funny or not, he's a comedian.

I saw a little girl standing by a bus stop, once. She had a golden retriever with her and they are such friendly animals.
I asked the little girl if her dog bites, and she said, no.
So I reached down to pet the dog and it lunged for me, knocked me down, and chewed the dickens out of my hand!
I looked at the little girl and yelled at her, "I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOUR DOG DOESN'T BITE!!!"

and she said, "that isn't MY dog..."

Now, if you catch yourself running to the phone to call the police to help that poor man being eaten by a dog?
Put the phone down, and step away, slowly.
Find a chair...
repeat after me, "I am not the mother of the world. I am not the mother of the world..."

[RageVsMachine]

12:38 PM on 02/22/2012

Sorry, but the joke was funny! Comedians shouldn't ever have to apologize. It's free speech people!

[Ben F]

11:50 AM on 02/22/2012

Insincere apology is insincere. "Apparently I offended you and now I have to apologize."

[Rus Viking]

11:38 AM on 02/22/2012

Note to Self: Any sentence or phrase that includes the word 'R@PE' does not fall into the "Humor" Category.

Ever!

[maxwelldog]

12:44 PM on 02/22/2012

One day, long, long ago, an elephant raped a hippopotamus.
Nine months later, what did they give birth to?
elephino.

[Rus Viking]

01:07 PM on 02/22/2012

That would have been funny, if you had used 'Rhino' as in..eleph~'ino' But...you didn't.

[Natassha Halverson]

11:17 AM on 02/22/2012

Comedy isnt funny if it doesnt offend somebody.

[Rus Viking]

11:41 AM on 02/22/2012

Really?

Let's see...

God that's an ugly dog!

~~~~~~

Dogs do resemble their owners, finds study

4:07 31 March 2004 by Shaoni Bhattacharya

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4837-dogs-do-resemble-their-owners-finds-study.html
~~~

Well?

[Natassha Halverson]

11:47 AM on 02/22/2012

Hilarious! Do you do stand up?

[Natassha Halverson]

11:48 AM on 02/22/2012

Also, you know what really cracks me up? When people, such as yourself, attacks a person, instead of that persons opinion. Show's real class there hero.

[maxwelldog]

12:51 PM on 02/22/2012

Very good, Natasha.
Melvin Helitzer agrees 100% and it really looks strange.
MOST comedy is born out of tragedy.
Honestly, funnier than the date rape joke he tweeted is the idiotic reaction of a mob scene attacking him for jokesmithing.

But, you'll have that with cavemen.
They always want to find the round stone with the hole in the center...
No...not for THAT...
As in, instead of building a wheel.

Fanned, and, feel free to give the dog a lick on the nose from me!
d=^))

[Natassha Halverson]

05:39 PM on 02/22/2012

haha Thank you! I love your comment. You know, whether you agree with me or not, I just like not getting attacked for my opinion. I dont have time to deal with ignorance like Rus Viking brings to the table. He is not very clever, at all.

[Valerie SteppenAbelin]

10:47 AM on 02/22/2012

i would like to know why the majority of those liberals got away with their comments....i guess only negative comments from the right make the main stream media news outlets......shocking

[gluefactory]

10:24 AM on 02/22/2012

What has happened to comedy. I think that is funny It is a joke and a funny one. It does not mean he wants to be rape or believes in it. Richard Pryor and the other stand up legends said way worse. I am a Republican and I get sick of the Republican this and the Democrat this and the Tea Party this and the Libs that. I see that this is a liberal site I like it because I like to hear other peoples point of view. I can not stand listening to crying over stuff like this. Am I the only one

[RageVsMachine]

12:44 PM on 02/22/2012

Yes, you might be the only rational republican. Congratulations.

[maxwelldog]

01:10 PM on 02/22/2012

no, you're not alone.
I just KNOW you're not alone. Why, not fifteen minutes ago I was standing here talking with a horse and he was crying about, I thought he said, "he was going to a new factory"? Friendly enough, though.
Well behaved horse. He mentioned he had been an indoors horse most of his life.
But he did have one complaint.
He asked me, "Do you know how flies seem to disappear during Winter? Well, I wish they would go there during Summer, too"

But in answer to the angst...
The reasonable man adapts to the world.
An unreasonable man persists in trying to make the world adapt to himself.
Therefore ALL progress depends on the unreasonable man.
George Bernard Shaw

But, that ain't me.
I asked Ma if I was adopted, and she said, "No honey... you're not adopted." and she took another sip of tea..."We just put the ad in the paper last week."

d=^))

[lumpofkurlee]

10:23 AM on 02/22/2012

The line "The joke wasn't funny" removes the objectivity of the reporter. While I'm sure many people were outraged and offended, none of them are required in any way to read Mr. Wilson's Twitter feed. "Dark" or "Black" comedy finds the light in the murkiest parts of the human condition. One possible side effect of black comedy is that you may find yourself discussing uncomfortable subjects that you may try to ignore in your daily life. If I tell you a joke about making babies stop crying with a hammer, you might think I'm disgusting, but unless you are carrying some deep flaws, you'll think about how disgusting child abuse is in real life.

And the joke was actually pretty funny, though I would've chosen Zeppelin's "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do". Or maybe "Thank You".

[RageVsMachine]

12:41 PM on 02/22/2012

"In the Evening"

[lumpofkurlee]

12:49 PM on 02/22/2012

"Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"? "Trampled Underfoot"? I can do this all day.

[vmax4ya]

10:22 AM on 02/22/2012

It was a joke ! and said nothing about those that have been raped...

[djnc]

10:18 AM on 02/22/2012

Comedians apologizing for jokes...what have we become?...I will never understand the people that get "outraged" over trivial things like this

[Lacey Epperson]

10:28 AM on 02/22/2012

With this country being under a politically correct bondage, people are becoming more and more thin-skinned. It's getting ridiculous.

[Rus Viking]

11:45 AM on 02/22/2012

I just came from a story where a commenter thought someone's use of the word 'Colored' constituted membership in the K l@n!

Can you believe that?

I will never understand the people that get "outraged" over trivial things like this

[360Dunk]

10:17 AM on 02/22/2012

When listening to 'Whole Lotta Love', I usually opt for a bong hit and dancing like a clumsy ape underneath a wall full of black light posters. Being raped is not on the agenda....unless it's an entire sorority doing the deed on me.

[someguy49]

10:15 AM on 02/22/2012

I stopped reading this article at:

"Twitter seems to compel a lot of people into writing things they probably wouldn't want to record, yet every tweet is currently being archived by the Library of Congress."

What. The. *#&$.

[Rus Viking]

12:09 PM on 02/22/2012

Your Tax Dollars @Work!

[brokenleoheart]

10:03 AM on 02/22/2012

ohhh dwight