But Why Would You Say That?
Washington ("Grey's") & Morgan ("30 Rock")
Do any of you remember Isaiah Washington? I barely do. But just a few years ago he was the hot doctor boyfriend of Cristina (Sandra Oh) on “Grey’s Anatomy”. All of that changed when Washington left the show in 2007. He left amid controversy…controversy which he had caused. After news of homophobic slurs against openly gay co-star TR Knight began to surface ABC had little choice but to refuse to renew his contract at the end of the year. If they had actually fired him he would have left shortly after the incident, in the middle of production. The fact that this did not occur made many think badly of showrunner Shonda Rimes (perhaps somewhat unfairly, since it would have been almost impossible to rewrite storylines to explain Washington suddenly disappearing). Regardless, as the NY Daily News stated in an article that they wrote 3 years after Washington left “Grey’s”: “Homophobic comments make bad career moves”.
Because of this, Tracy Morgan’s homophobic ‘joke’ during a recent stand-up routine (which included graphic descriptions of violent actions again gays, and described how he would harm his son were he to state he was gay) seems not only offensive and politically incorrect, but downright stupid. Have actors not learned anything from Washington?
As news of Morgan’s ‘joke’ has spread many have called for him to be reprimanded by NBC. However, some differences do exist between the circumstances of Washington’s rant and Morgan’s graphic comment. Washington’s insult directly related to a fellow cast member (TR Knight) and consequently not only put him in a bad light, but also cast a shadow over the production of the show. Other people involved in “Grey’s” (most notably Katherine Heigel) began taking open stands, essentially dividing the cast and crew. This meant that Washington’s comment harmed both the public’s image of the show, and the continued successful production of the show.
Could Morgan’s slur do the same thing? Yes and no. He did not attack a member of the cast or crew directly, although I am sure that there are plenty of openly gay people who work at NBC. Many of these people were probably upset by Morgan’s comments, particularly if they work with him daily. Still, there was no direct attack.
Morgan also made the comment during his stand-up act, which was in no way related to “30 Rock”, Washington, in contrast, ranted while on the set of “Grey’s”, and is said to have actually grabbed Patrick Dempsey by the neck.
While Morgan did not act violently, he did seemingly recommend violent actions against gays. In a year that has had a number of high profile gay suicides, this could not come at a worse time (of course, there’s really no better time for it either).
Those involved in the production of “30 Rock” have all made official statements.:
As quoted by the Huffington Post, Greenblatt (NBC Entertainment Chairman) said the following:
“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”.
Tina Fey, showrunner and star of “30 Rock”, also spoke up (again, this is from The Huffington Post):
“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.”
I truly adore Tina Fey, but I was a little upset by her statement that Morgan is “much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person”. That sounds very much like an excuse…as though she is saying that his words don’t matter…and trying to joke away what he said. While I appreciate that Fey made an effort to quickly release a statement, I wish it had not contained that joking line (perhaps she didn’t even mean it that way, but that is how it comes across). It cheapens her to come to his defense. Also, just because she thinks he isn’t ‘active’ enough to commit a crime like the one he suggested, doesn’t mean that somehow who hears him is too inactive.
Regardless, it seems to me unlikely that Morgan will leave the show for good. He is a central character, and would be very hard to replace. His statement was also not made in a setting tied to NBC, and consequently it would be hard for them to directly reprimand him about it anyway.
They are probably incredibly pleased that “30 Rock’ will not be returning again until midseason (due to Fey’s maternity leave). My guess is that everyone at the network is quite happy about her pregnancy right now. Eight months gives the viewers a long time to forget.
*Morgan recently released an apology to the LGBT community: read it here.
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