The State Theatre in New Brunswick has canceled a performance by comedian Kathy Griffin that was scheduled for November. The event was canceled less than a week after Griffin posed for a photo shoot with a mock bloodied and severed head of Donald Trump.
Griffin, who originally defended the photo, apologized for going too far less than 24 hours after it was published. “I’m a comic, I crossed the line, I move the line … I went way too far,” she said. “I made a mistake, and I was wrong.”
She was fired by CNN, and several venues have canceled scheduled performances.
“After careful consideration of recent events and for the safety of our patrons, Kathy Griffin’s November 3rd performance has been cancelled,” reads the message posted on the State Theatre Website. “All Kathy Griffin ticket buyers will be issued a full refund.”
If you purchased tickets to for the show via Ticketmaster, call 800-745-3000. If you purchased your tickets through another party, contact them directly.
The Bergen PAC also canceled a performance by Griffin scheduled for November.
Gee, all the right wingers are always screaming about free speech rights and how the PC crowd is hampering their free speech. Rightists are always complaining that conservatives and right wingers are having their free speech rights suppressed by those evil liberals. Griffin was expressing herself, exercising her free speech rights, it was free speech via visuals and her banter. It was very offensive, nasty and mean spirited but it was intended to be a joke not an actual threat. It misfired and came across as something very terrible. She did apologize massively for her mistake. But that is not enough, her career must be destroyed. Compare that to Ted Nugent who is very offensive and threatening with his free speech. He gets invited to the Trump White House. Isn’t that precious.
The free speech right relates to governmental restriction of one’s speech. (“Congress shall make no law…”) The government has done nothing to restrict Ms. Griffin’s speech. Based upon her comments, private entities have decided to cancel pre-existing engagements. Ms. Griffin’s predicament has nothing to do with the freedom of speech. However, when State run and/or State funded colleges (or other governmental entities) promulgate “PC” related speech codes that does implicate the First Amendment right.
I didn’t say that her situation has anything to do with her free speech rights. I was pointing out the hypocrisy and dishonesty of right wingers and conservatives who have perpetuated the hoax of a supposed liberal PC imposed censorship. PC is an urban zombie myth created by the right wing echo machine, e.g., Fox News and hate wing radio (Limbaugh, Hannity, Mark Levin and all their horde of clones across the nation). I’m not even a fan of Griffin but she is harmless when compared to someone like Nugent.
If it’s got nothing to do with it, then why are you even bringing it up?
I’m exercising my free speech rights. You have a problem with that?
Nope, no problem with you exercising your rights. I just have a problem with you going off about her right to free speech and then claiming you weren’t calling it a free speech issue. Hopefully, by now, you’ve figured out what protections you are granted under free speech.
Sorry if this turns out to be a double post but….. Kathy Griffin still has her free speech rights but her career is in shreds. Meanwhile the tweeter in chief has made lurid and racist comments in the past and makes outrageous tweets on an almost daily basis, e.g., his insults of the mayor of London.
Sure seemed so to me. See, e.g., the third sentence of your post. As far as PC being an “urban zombie myth” – whatever the heck that is – plenty of folks who do not identify with FOX or the right wing have raised concerns. Off the top of my head, Michael Bloomberg in a commencement address at Harvard a year or two ago. It’s a real issue for people who value our freedoms, including freedom of speech. If and when these campus speech codes go to the Supreme Court, I predict they’ll be struck down, 7-2 or maybe even 9-0.
Bloomberg cited the following college events in his speech:
Ray Kelly – protested by students during a lecture. The students were disruptive with shouted questions, which Kelly did not answer, so the lecture was halted after 30 minutes. The University was not involved with preventing his speech.
Condoleeza Rice – voluntarily backed out after protest by students. Rutgers University supported her and stated they fully stood behind the invitation. In Rice’s withdrawal she indicated the issue wasn’t even about free speech, which she supported, but rather to avoid a distraction from commencement.
Christine Legarde – chose to withdraw after a petition from students was submitted. Smith College was not part of her appearance being canceled and indicated they wished she had attended.
As for the Frank Bruni column, he references Charles Murray’s invitation (by about a dozen students, of the campus American Enterprise Institute Club) to speak at Middlebury. Charles Murray is the author of the Bell Curve and has been labeled by the the Souther Poverty Law Center as a white supremacist. He is also a scholar at the AEI, the Koch brothers funded group that footed the bill for his appearance. It is worth noting that AEI is only one of the far right group funding campus tours by racist speakers. See also Steve Bannon’s/Robert Mercer’s Glittering Steel group that funded Milo Yiannopoulous’ “Dangerous Faggot” tour, which included two stops with violence. See also Young Americans Foundation which sponsored Anne Coulter’s Berkeley visit. Make no mistake, these sorts of visits are acts of incitement and attempts to normalize hate speech and racism.
This attack on Griffin by a pathological liar like Trump is especially ironic. Trump is the ignoramus who perpetrated and perpetuated the birther lies for years on end. He was not joking. The whole birther nonsense was nothing but veiled racism. Did Trump pay a price for his con job? He was elected president of the US. At least Kathy Griffin does not have access to the nuclear codes and she can’t declare war on a country. Spare me the outrage over a dumb joke by a C class comedian.