Tracy Morgan issued a statement to The Huffington Post through his representative:
“I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”
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PREVIOUSLY: Tracy Morgan's latest standup set is no laughing matter.
Kevin Rogers attended Morgan's standup show last Friday and reported on his Facebook page that Morgan let loose a viciously homophobic rant that, as far as he could tell, was a dead serious attack on gay men and women. Rogers, who is gay, wrote:
I figured at some point the gay jokes would fly and I'm well prepared for a good ribbing of straight gay humor. I have very thick skin when it comes to humor; I can dish and I can take. What I can't take is when Mr. Morgan took it upon himself to mention about how he feels all this gay s*it was crazy and that women are a gift from God and that "Born this Way" is bulls*it, gay is a choice, and the reason he knows this is exactly because "God don't make no mistakes" (referring to God not making someone gay cause that would be a mistake).
Perhaps most strikingly, Rogers wrote that Morgan said:
He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death.
Rogers continued to describe the rant, which we've excerpted:
He took time to visit the bulls*it of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being pussies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying. He mentioned that gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f*ckers that bully them, not whine about it.
After making comments about President Obama, Rogers wrote that Morgan finished his rant defiantly:
Tracy then said he didn't f*cking care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking dick up their ass... they can take a f*cking joke.
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As it stands, Morgan's reps refused to comment to gay issues site Unicornbooty.com, writing, "There is no comment, thank you for your inquiry."
The Ryman Auditorium issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter about the alleged outburst, saying, "The Ryman Auditorium regrets that people were offended by statements made by Tracy Morgan during his June 3 appearance. The Ryman does not control the content presented by people appearing on its stage, nor does it endorse any of the views of, or statements made by, such persons."
Morgan has a history of homophobic tirades on stage, saying that being gay was a choice, among other things, at a 2009 standup performance at New York's Carnegie Hall.
In his acting career, however, Morgan has often played gay or at least sexually ambiguous. He played a transvestite inmate in the Adam Sandler comedy, "The Longest Yard," and many of his "Saturday Night Live" characters were of questionable sexuality, including the sophomoric zookeeper Brian Fellows.
The Huffington Post has reached out to his representative for comment, and will update if any statement is given.
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