David Cross Not Backing Down After Weekend Backlash to Promotional Photo

at
Share This Post

David Cross has a gig coming up at the University of Utah this week. But an attempt to promote the gig by joking about Mormon religious garments is bringing some backlash. On Saturday, Cross tweeted out a photoshopped still of Cross outside of a dressing room from Arrested Development. In the original photo, Cross’ character Tobias Funke is trying on red underwear. The promotional photo shows him instead wearing Mormon undergarments with “Utah! Learn the real truth” printed on the photo.

The gig is not an official “University of Utah” show, Cross’s promoters are renting the space from the University, but many are calling the promotional photo ‘insensitive’ and are calling for the U to cancel the show.

Initially, the University did not see the photoshop as offensive, and replied with a lighthearted GIF, but after the complaints started rolling in, the official Twitter account issued an apology. “We apologize for not immediately seeing a connection to the LDS faith in this tweet. It took a minute to understand the reaction to our GIF, but gratefully our community pointed it out. “Our reply was in reaction to David Cross performing on campus & not intended to offend.”

The Cross tweet, which has not been removed from Twitter, has 266 replies, with tweet reactions ranging from calling the photo “insensitive” to “religious bigotry” and asking the University to cancel the show. “This is not a joke. Just offensive and disrespectful. This does not promote values of belonging, acceptance and tolerance for others. The U of U can do better. Cancel the show as David Cross should not profit from a message of hate and disrespect,” wrote one tweeter. Others asked “where is there hate?” in the original message.

Cross is not apologizing, and on Sunday invited his followers to “Read the replies for some underwear fun,” and promising “Holy “moly”! My opening 10 minutes are going to be on fire!!!”

The show takes place Wednesday night at Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah.

Cross wasn’t the only comedian taking college heat this weekend. A comedian/ventriloquist/magician walked a lot of students over the weekend at Purdue University for behavior that students are calling “sexual harassment.”

Read more comedy news.

Interrobang Staff
Interrobang Staff