Norm Macdonald’s ‘Down Syndrome’ Response Fans Flames After #MeToo Backlash
“Now I just find you ignorant and vile,” tweets one detractor of comedian’s comments
Meriah Doty | September 12, 2018 @ 1:45 PM
Last Updated: September 12, 2018 @ 2:15 PM
Norm Macdonald keeps putting his foot in it.
The comedian is facing a second round of backlash this week — this time for referring to a genetic disorder to emphasize a point about his support of the #MeToo movement.
“You’d have to have Down Syndrome to not feel sorry for — of course, #MeToo is what you want for your daughters. And you want that to be the future world,” Macdonald told Howard Stern on Wednesday.
Soon afterward, several people on Twitter voiced their disgust with Macdonald’s choice of words.
“@normmacdonald you made fun of people with Downs Syndrome, and the me too movement?,” noted one detractor, adding, “I’ve never cared for your attempt at humor. Always thought you just got lucky somewhere. Now I just find you ignorant and vile. You don’t seem very bright either, so I’ll help you – you suck.”
Another observer offered an even more blunt assessment: “This clueless mother f—er just tried to say his #MeToo comments were misconstrued by making a Downs Syndrome joke. Are you f—ing serious @normmacdonald ?”
“People with downs syndrome are beautiful and should not be dragged into any conversation in a negative light! Norm Macdonald needs to sit down (in the corner) with his straight, white, male privilege! #ByeGirl,” tweeted another.
“Here’s a hole, dig deeper!” wrote another observer, referencing a second wave of backlash against the comedian.
Macdonald stopped by Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show on Wednesday to clarify comments he made about the #MeToo movement and explain how he came to be dropped from an appearance on “The Tonight Show” earlier this week.
Macdonald, who’s promoting his upcoming Netflix talk show, explained that he wasn’t trying to defend the accused men when he said that he’s “happy the #MeToo movement has slowed down a little bit” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I never defended them. I am completely behind the #MeToo movement,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum told Stern.
Macdonald suggested that there should be a path to redemption for disgraced stars like Louis C.K. or Roseanne Barr, telling THR: “The model used to be: admit wrongdoing, show complete contrition and then we give you a second chance. Now it’s admit wrongdoing and you’re finished.”
Macdonald continued in the interview: “There are very few people that have gone through what they have, losing everything in a day. Of course, people will go, ‘What about the victims?’ But you know what? The victims didn’t have to go through that.”
The comments were met with intense backlash on social media, leading to his Tuesday appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” being canceled just moments before it was scheduled to begin.
“[Fallon] was very broken up about it. And he said ‘I don’t know what to do. And I said ‘Should I not do the show?'” Macdonald told Stern. The comedian said Fallon told him he was getting “pressure from so many people” and senior producers were crying over Macdonald’s appearance.
Ultimately, Fallon told him that doing the segment so soon after the comments were published would “hurt the show,” Macdonald said. “And I said, ‘Jimmy I don’t want to hurt your show. That is the last thing I want to do.'”
Macdonald has since apologized for the comments in a tweet.
“Roseanne and Louis have both been very good friends of mine for many years. They both made terrible mistakes and I would never defend their actions,” he wrote. “If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day, I am deeply sorry.”
“I wish I never had to do an interview, especially a print interview because they edit it and put it together and ask you questions that maybe you don’t want to answer,” he told Stern. “They put things together that you’re saying — and I’m a f–ing dumb guy, I get confused.”
Here are more negative reactions to Macdonald’s “Down Syndrome” comment:
When @normmacdonald says 'you'd have to have down syndrome' he's making fun of people who use and are offended by people saying 'that's retarded'. By using a more medically specific term he's ironically posing as politically correct when he knows he's being even more offensive.
There are so many things wrong with Norm MacDonald's statements about Down syndrome that instead of kicking in the screen of my computer, I tried to breathe calmly and composed this tweet. @Netflix: Fire this putz before you're forced to fire this putz. https://t.co/ygMzUxDGAm
Perhaps Norm Macdonald's agent will let him know that it's time to stop. Just. Stop. Talking. Down Syndrome? Seriously? Leave that alone. What on earth does that have to do with sympathy for #MeToohttps://t.co/0Y8TSIjt90
"You'd have to have Down Syndrome to not feel sorry for MeToo"?! WTH. We not gonna talk about this??? That's ableist AF. He's basically saying people with Down Syndrome have no feelings or empathy and that's wrong. https://t.co/bfZT5KOCPo
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From the penthouse to the outhouse: Dozens of powerful names in Hollywood have abruptly lost public favor in the past year, from the numerous men toppled by the #MeToo movement to figures who have been shunned for an inappropriate Twitter joke. Read on for shocking falls from grace in movie and television history, from director Roman Polanski to sitcom star Roseanne Barr to disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
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The French-Polish director has been a fugitive from the U.S. criminal justice system since 1978, when he fled to Poland after being charged with drugging and raping a 13-year old girl. He continued making films in Europe, and in 2003, he earned an Academy Award for Best Director for his World War II drama "The Pianist." In May, Polanski was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
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Roger Ailes
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Jeffrey Tambor
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Mario Batali
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Al Franken
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Aziz Ansari
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Roseanne Barr
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James Gunn
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Les Moonves
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Careers have been upended, or put on serious pause, since the earliest days of Hollywood
From the penthouse to the outhouse: Dozens of powerful names in Hollywood have abruptly lost public favor in the past year, from the numerous men toppled by the #MeToo movement to figures who have been shunned for an inappropriate Twitter joke. Read on for shocking falls from grace in movie and television history, from director Roman Polanski to sitcom star Roseanne Barr to disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
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Paramount Pictures
