You might think that being the host of a high-profile TV show would cause a performer to watch his mouth.
You’d be wrong.
At least in the case of Adam Carolla, the comedian who is also one of the hosts of “The Car Show,” which launched in July on Speed TV.
In his most recent podcast, using the tongue-in-cheek Internet campaign to have Sesame Street‘s Bert and Ernie get married, Carolla embarked on a foul-mouthed and abusive rant against gay, lesbian, and transgendered people.
He even named names, going so far as target Cher’s son Chaz Bono (born Chastity) specifically.
Confusingly, he claimed LGBTQ people are “ruining his life” and commanded all of them to “shut up.”
It could almost bring to mind the famous quote, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
We’ve editing out the NSFW parts of his rant, of which there are quite a few. Read here for some of the uglier, more graphic language.
Needless to say, protest and pushback arrived immediately.
Carolla then tweeted a half-hearted non-apology, saying, “I’m sorry my comments were hurtful. That being said, I’m a comedian, not a politician.”
And there it stands.
But the GayWheels blog (republished by Jalopnik) raises an interesting question: Could the backlash over Carolla’s anti-gay rant damage, or even kill, “The Car Show”?
As certain other public figures have learned at their peril, propounding venomous anti-gay slurs on air tends to scare advertisers. We’re lookin’ at you, Dr. Laura. And, more recently, Tracy Morgan.
Let’s be clear: We draw a clear distinction between a polite statement of principles (e.g. “I personally don’t agree with same-sex marriage, but I recognize that others feel differently”) and the kind of potty-mouth teen bigotry that Carolla engaged in.
So we’d like to get your views on two related questions. First, do you think “The Car Show” will suffer from Carolla’s comments? And, second, should his comments in a personal webcast affect the show?
Leave us your thoughts in the Comments below. We’re confident you’ll keep it polite and family-friendly.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection.
