Chris Rock Special Pulled From Delta Flights For Gay Slur

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Is there a time limit on how long after you put out material that someone is still allowed to be offended by it? Chris Rock found out there is no statute of limitations on his comedy.

Delta Air Lines is in the process of removing a 2008 Chris Rock comedy special from its in-flight entertainment after a complaint about his use of a anti-gay slur in his stand up. The special in question is “Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger” from 8 years ago. It was Chris’ 5th comedy special for HBO and it was a huge hit.

In the special, Chris Rock repeatedly uses the slur (you can probably guess which one, but in case you can’t, that part of Chris’ special where he uses it 13 times is below) while talking about political correctness. This is how far back the special goes; Chris Rock was talking about the then still recent firing of Isaiah Washington from “Grey’s Anatomy” for using the other F-word. Washington had used the slur against gay cast mate T. R. Knight on set and then had the brilliant judgment to say it again while being interviewed at the Golden Globes. In the special, Chris joked about how there were times when it was perfectly fine to use the word without it meaning gay. He also mentioned how much he loves his gay fans and the money they spend on tickets to his shows.

Meanwhile back on board Delta Airlines, the complaint about the Chris Rock special came from passenger Jeremy Foreshew who watched the special offered by Delta’s free in-flight entertainment program on a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Foreshew works for the dating app Grindr, known for helping gay men in a similar location hook up. He was returning from a meeting of gay rights groups when he watched the special. He told the travel site, gaytravel.com, “Having come from being with all these activists, knowing the current state of violence against the LGBT community, and knowing the current political climate… I just came to a place where I couldn’t believe this was something happening in 2016. When you think of the number of people who fly Delta every day and have access to that language… it just shocked me.”

The airline put out a statement to Entertainment Weekly saying, “The Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger segment should not have been uploaded on flights based on our criteria for excluding onboard programming that includes content featuring explicit language, slurs, extreme violence, and explicit scenes. We apologize to any customers who were offended by the content or our airing of the segment, and we are working as quickly as possible to remove it from our aircraft. Our commitment to inclusion and respect of all customers is rooted in Delta’s values and culture, and we proudly embrace diverse people, thinking and styles.”

This hasn’t been a very good month for Delta Airlines pertaining to its in-flight entertainment and gays. Earlier in August, comedian Cameron Esposito complained that she watched the 2015 film “Carol” which was nominated for 6 Oscars on a Delta flight and the intimate scenes between actors Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara had been edited out. After several more complaints, Delta responded by saying it was the studio that provided the edited version.

For everyone getting ready to fly Delta, the airlines still has plenty of entertainment choices. Some of the selections include “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2”, “Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War” and reruns of “The Big Bang Theory”. Enjoy your flight!

via YouTube and NSFW

 

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