Slightly Offensive - Elijah Schaffer - Do Celebrities have Free Speech?
Aired: 2018-05-29
Duration: 11:36


=== Roseanne's Racist Tweet (11:11) ===

[00:00:00]  All right, we're back with Slightly Offensive out here in Glendale, California, talking to people about their response to Roseanne Barr's racist tweets against Valerie Jarrett.
[00:00:08]  If y'all don't know, she said that Valerie Jarrett looked like a cross between the offspring of Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes.
[00:00:15]  Let's see what people in LA have to say about this statement.
[00:00:21]  All right, so I'm out here.
[00:00:22]  What's your name, man?
[00:00:22]  Yay.
[00:00:23]  Yay, alright, yay.
[00:00:24]  We're out here in Glendale, California.
[00:00:26]  Did you hear a little bit about what happened today with the Roseanne Barr show?
[00:00:30]  Yes, I did, and I'm very happy about it.
[00:00:33]  So, Roseanne said that about that lady?
[00:00:35]  Yes.
[00:00:37]  But on her own private Twitter.
[00:00:38]  Oh.
[00:00:39]  Well, I mean, everybody has the right to say whatever they feel on their own personal Twitter.
[00:00:44]  I mean, I could see how people could take that the wrong way, but I mean, we all say s  ⁇  on there, you know, on Twitter and stuff like that.
[00:00:52]  That's our own personal thing.
[00:00:53]  So I don't think it should have been canceled just for it was canceled because of that.
[00:00:56]  Yeah, the president just said that it does not line up with our values as a network, and it is canceled effectively immediately.
[00:01:03]  I think that the executive producer, director, or whomever was responsible for funding of the Roseanne Barr show did the right thing.
[00:01:12]  Okay, so then my question is here.
[00:01:14]  So Roseanne Barr is a comedian.
[00:01:15]  How far do we have free speech as a comedian to make things that are often funny?
[00:01:19]  Because I know that a lot of black comedians use the N-word.
[00:01:22]  Comedians like Dave Chappelle make fun of white people a lot.
[00:01:25]  So for someone to come in and make fun of someone of color, especially being that they're not a politician, she's a comedian.
[00:01:30]  How far should we restrict the rights of comedians considering Chelsea Handler?
[00:01:33]  Are you familiar with her?
[00:01:35]  Yeah, I'm familiar with Chelsea Handler.
[00:01:37]  She said that we should be allowed to kind of make fun of all people if everyone's on the table.
[00:01:41]  So how far is too far for a comedian to make jokes when their job is to make people laugh and be controversial?
[00:01:47]  Yeah, I think it just has to do with like the size of the platform and stuff.
[00:01:51]  And so that's what's great about things like HBO and Netflix where like we kind of go to look for that kind of like, you know, crazy behavior.
[00:02:00]  But Roseanne, unfortunately, is on ABC, a nationally, you know, televised network.
[00:02:08]  And so, you know, there's with great power comes great responsibility.
[00:02:11]  So there's a difference between being on ABC and HBO?
[00:02:14]  Definitely.
[00:02:14]  Because Bill Maher used the N-word on HBO.
[00:02:17]  unfortunately totally different HBO is HBO Well, HBO, you have to pay to get HBO.
[00:02:24]  HBO's part of its branding is to be pro-vocal.
[00:02:30]  So as long as you're paying for racism, it's okay, kind of.
[00:02:34]  As long as you are going somewhere where the brand is provocation.
[00:02:42]  Yeah, I saw it, and I didn't know.
[00:02:44]  I thought that was really not the brightest opinion on her part.
[00:02:46]  Like, she should know better than to say terrible things like that.
[00:02:49]  Like, that was just uncalled for, in my opinion.
[00:02:51]  Did you hear anything about that?
[00:02:52]  I have not, actually, really?
[00:02:56]  Wow, I did not know that she released a tweet like that.
[00:03:01]  Do you know what the I have no idea what this tweet was, but that's pretty shocking that they went ahead and I understand why they would go ahead and cancel it.
[00:03:09]  You would understand why they canceled it even though you don't even know what it said?
[00:03:11]  Yeah, like, do you know what this tweet was?
[00:03:14]  I do.
[00:03:15]  What is it?
[00:03:15]  Would it change your mind if it was less racist or more racist?
[00:03:20]  It's still racist at the end of the day.
[00:03:23]  It's more, I don't know.
[00:03:27]  ABC has a liberal-leaning show, Jimmy Kimmel.
[00:03:30]  Are you familiar with that?
[00:03:31]  They actually, on his show, he actually even makes fun of women.
[00:03:34]  He's made fun of Melania Trump for being an immigrant, made fun of her accent, as well as the way she talks in general, and also called her a prostitute.
[00:03:40]  Yet his show's currently being aired.
[00:03:42]  He also has a regular guest named Sarah Silverman, who's actually done sketches in complete blackface, as well as calling Asians chinks.
[00:03:49]  So my question to you.
[00:03:51]  Because she's a woman, you know, and he just does not like women, right?
[00:03:54]  So.
[00:03:55]  It could be that it was just Roseanne and he didn't like her and he was just trying to, I don't know, being Trump, you know?
[00:04:02]  So it could be that he thinks it's okay for a man to do that, but not a woman.
[00:04:06]  Who knows?
[00:04:06]  Why would you say that?
[00:04:09]  Because that's how Trump is.
[00:04:11]  Like, I don't really honestly follow too much of it, but what did Trump have to do with this?
[00:04:17]  Like, because he pretty much he's like the one that really wanted to cancel it, right?
[00:04:21]  No, Donald Trump, it was the president of ABC.
[00:04:23]  Oh.
[00:04:24]  Okay.
[00:04:25]  So all lost there.
[00:04:26]  Yeah, the show was pro-Donald Trump.
[00:04:34]  I don't know then.
[00:04:35]  I think he's just trying to make a stand.
[00:04:38]  Okay, did you hear today it was canceled?
[00:04:40]  Yes.
[00:04:40]  Okay, do you know why it was canceled?
[00:04:42]  Because she's racist.
[00:04:43]  Okay, do you know what she said that was racist?
[00:04:45]  She posted a tweet and then deleted it, but everybody has screenshots.
[00:04:48]  I don't know what she actually said, but I heard it was not great.
[00:04:53]  Why cancel the show?
[00:04:54]  Why cancel?
[00:04:56]  It was her, not the whole team.
[00:04:58]  So I don't understand that.
[00:05:00]  Right.
[00:05:00]  That makes a lot of sense because, you know, it's just so racist that how could you have something so extremely racist be racist on a show when you're a star of the show, right?
[00:05:10]  Well, say something so racist, being the star of the show, and you know, can't really replace her as like the main, as being Roseanne for so many years.
[00:05:21]  So why do you feel like maybe that the racist comment is so heavy-handed and why she got fired for it?
[00:05:27]  It's just, it's inappropriate, and it's terrible, huh?
[00:05:30]  Well, I have no idea what it said, but we do know it's bad.
[00:05:34]  I'm assuming so.
[00:05:35]  If it is racist, it's just, you know, it is very inappropriate.
[00:05:41]  Okay, and what are your opinions on her getting fired for posting what the network deemed a racist tweet?
[00:05:46]  I think that we live in this world where we have a freedom of speech, and every time we speak, we get attacked or we get criticized if we say something bad about races or other people.
[00:05:55]  And I think that it's just an opinion, but I think it's wrong because we just now we're getting, we can't say anything because we're afraid because we're going to get fired or we're going to get put away.
[00:06:05]  It's just wrong.
[00:06:06]  Do you think maybe that Roseanne felt charged or somehow energized in making that statement because the show is pro-Trump?
[00:06:13]  So do you think that maybe Trump's rhetoric and the way that he is out in society might have energized her or promoted her to say something like this openly on a public forum?
[00:06:21]  Unfortunately, Trump has, I would say, not only given people the motivation or the courage to say some things that they may not have said had he not been in office, I think he has certainly promoted it.
[00:06:38]  He has not only ignited folks to be able to say some of the things that would have been taboo, but he is encouraging it in not only a subliminal way, but in a very forward way.
[00:06:54]  So on the familiarity that her viewers actually don't really care probably much about what she said, wouldn't that mean that the show should technically still stay on the air?
[00:07:04]  Okay, fair point.
[00:07:07]  Yeah, kind of copy there, I guess, by my own logic.
[00:07:10]  Then, yeah.
[00:07:12]  But yeah, just kind of caught me there in a little while.
[00:07:20]  I think they're making a huge deal out of something that we have way bigger things going on in America right now than to be worrying about Twitter.
[00:07:27]  Honestly, Twitter needs to calm down.
[00:07:29]  It's just one tweet.
[00:07:30]  And of course, it was mean and rude and like disrespectful, but to make a huge deal out of it, and I saw it on the morning news and like all the news channels were talking about this tweet.
[00:07:38]  And there's like way worse things going on in other countries and in our country alone.
[00:07:42]  It's just a simple tweet, even though it was offensive.
[00:07:44]  It's just a tweet that.
[00:07:45]  The show is called slightly offensive.
[00:07:49]  Like life's slightly offensive.
[00:07:51]  We're in a generation where everybody is like easily hurt over things where it's like we can't be like that.
[00:07:56]  We got to like handle things and like worry about bigger problems honestly than tweets.
[00:08:02]  We're a country of division.
[00:08:03]  It wasn't done by Donald Trump.
[00:08:05]  I'm not for him and I'm not against him.
[00:08:08]  But I've seen he's done a lot more than what the previous presidents, my opinion.
[00:08:14]  But still, instead of handling with compassion and understanding, it's done always separation and I mean it was just done wrong.
[00:08:29]  Period.
[00:08:30]  Do you ever feel like racist is just a word that people could just change and just call something racist without even giving the context of what it is?
[00:08:37]  And then people could become like a mob and just start firing people, tearing people down without even judging the measure of why someone said something?
[00:08:46]  That was actually a very good question.
[00:08:48]  The main thing is that I feel the word racist has changed a lot.
[00:08:53]  A lot of people don't understand what the word is.
[00:08:56]  doesn't mean um so like racism is pretty much having like pull up on google I can't properly go ahead and give you the definition, but.
[00:09:06]  We do know the tweet was racist.
[00:09:09]  Do you know what it said?
[00:09:10]  I do.
[00:09:11]  Can I know what it said?
[00:09:13]  Yes.
[00:09:13]  Oh, no, I know.
[00:09:14]  I'm just saying that, like, to me, using the N-word as a white person is kind of racist.
[00:09:18]  You know, I think, you know, as a person who loves hip-hop, I think that, you know, context is everything.
[00:09:26]  What about recently with Kendrick Lamar, you know, or different people that have been on, had white fans or whatever come on stage and actually use the N-word and then get mad at them for what they're doing.
[00:09:37]  What do you think about that?
[00:09:38]  Perfect example.
[00:09:39]  I think Kendrick, very much like Roseanne, creates a content that he's hoping to get to the broadest audience and stuff.
[00:09:47]  And from what I could tell, the young lady that joined him on stage was obviously a fan.
[00:09:51]  It didn't mean anything wrong about it.
[00:09:53]  So I think that, you know, Americans all over the world are able to kind of dissect context if we're willing to, you know, do the hard work of thinking for ourselves.
[00:10:03]  Right.
[00:10:03]  And that is pretty hard work, huh?
[00:10:05]  Yeah.
[00:10:05]  Had Hillary Clinton been president, you think this would have happened?
[00:10:09]  Had Hillary been president, I think that there certainly would have been a lot more unity.
[00:10:15]  I certainly don't find that the Clintons, and I'm not speaking from a Democratic viewpoint versus a Republican viewpoint.
[00:10:23]  I think that what we see in Donald Trump is what we see in that person.
[00:10:28]  What we would see in Hillary Clinton as a person would never embrace this type of divisiveness.
[00:10:34]  On a scale of one to Reverend L. Sharpton, how race-baiting was that comment?
[00:10:41]  It was pretty high up there.
[00:10:47]  Close to Reverend L. Sharpton?
[00:10:49]  Pretty close.
[00:10:49]  Like Jesse Jackson.
[00:10:52]  Yeah.
[00:10:53]  Do you have any suggestions of things they could have done better in place of just canceling the show?

=== Inappropriate Behavior Consequences (00:39) ===

[00:10:56]  Yeah, like I said earlier, I think they should have talked to her individually and reprimanded her and or either suspend her for one day or whatever the case is.
[00:11:07]  But, you know, it wasn't done.
[00:11:09]  And typical.
[00:11:11]  And remember, Charlie Sheen got fired for a similar inappropriate behavior, but he actually attacked the cast on a regular basis and the producers of his own show.
[00:11:19]  And it took many different instances for him to actually even get fired after knowingly living a promiscuous lifestyle and admitting to using illegal drugs.
[00:11:26]  This is not anything illegal she did.
[00:11:27]  It's just not tasteful in the opinion of the network.
[00:11:31]  Bingo.
[00:11:31]  And you made a point there.
[00:11:33]  Again, she's a woman.