Days after being vilified for an anti-gay rant during a standup performance, Tracy Morgan is going on a remorse tour, apologizing and meeting with victims of anti-gay violence.
On Monday, the star of "30 Rock" spoke with Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation President Jarrett Barrios. Afterward, GLAAD said Morgan repudiated his statements — strongly.
"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I never want to use my comedy to hurt anyone," Morgan said in a written statement released by GLAAD. "My family knew what it was like to feel different. My brother was disabled and I lost my father to AIDS in 1987. My dad wasn't gay but I also learned about homophobia then."
During the comedy show in Nashville, Morgan said that if his son were gay and sounded effeminate, he'd stab the boy.
This week, Morgan will meet with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens who were, in fact, shunned by their parents, and with parents who lost their children to anti-LGBT hate crimes. Among those parents will be Elke Kennedy, whose son, Sean, was killed in 2007 at the age of 20 when another man called him a "faggot" and punched him, breaking his facial bones and separating his brain from his brain stem.
The comic also will return to Tennessee with GLAAD and hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons — who also announced support of marriage equality — to meet with people he offended in that state.
Finally, Morgan will film a public service announcement for GLAAD's "Amplify Your Voice" campaign.
Also Read: Tracy Morgan's Gay Rant: NBC Isn't Happy, but '30 Rock' Star Still Has a Job (Updated)
Barrios told TheWrap that "these are first steps, not just towards making amends for his horrible remarks, but also towards the extraordinarily important effort of educating the American public of the tremendous hurdles LGBT youth face."
"Parents should support and love their kids no matter what," Morgan said in a written statement. "Gay people deserve the same right to be happy in this country as everyone else. Our laws should support that. I hope that my fans gay, straight, whatever forgive and I hope my family forgives me for this."