The openly gay Chairman of NBC, Bob Greenblatt, and “30 Rock” creator Tina Fey on Friday released statements condemning comedian Tracy Morgan’s homophobic rant at a recent concert in Nashville.
Morgan, through his management company, issued a statement on Friday apologizing for his anti-gay remarks.
Fey, Morgan’s boss on 30 Rock and longtime colleague there and on “Saturday Night Live,” gave Morgan a little tough love:
“I’m glad to hear that Tracy apologized for his comments. Stand-up comics may have the right to “work out” their material in its ugliest and rawest form in front of an audience, but the violent imagery of Tracy’s rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the GLBT Community.
“It also doesn’t line up with the Tracy Morgan I know, who is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person.
“I hope for his sake that Tracy’s apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers at 30 Rock, without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with, or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket.
“The other producers and I pride ourselves on 30 Rock being a diverse, safe, and fair workplace.”
Greenblatt said that NBC is taking the situation seriously.
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“I speak for NBC and myself personally when I say we do not condone hate or violence of any kind and I am pleased to see Tracy Morgan apologizing for recent homophobic remarks in his standup appearance.
“We will always recognize an artist’s freedom to express him or herself, but not when reckless things are said no matter what the context.
“Unfortunately, Tracy’s comments reflect negatively on both “30 Rock” and NBC – two very all-inclusive and diverse organizations – and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has offered to arrange a meeting between Morgan and a family whose LGBT son or daughter has been the victim of violence because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity, and to arrange a meeting between Morgan and LGBT young people who have been hurt by parental rejection.
No response yet from the Morgan camp.
