The tweets are watching!
Once again the use of Twitter, for the moment, has cost another “celebrity” their livelihood. The hefty, ascot-wearing political analyst for CNN, Roland Martin, decided to fire off a few colorful tweets aimed at David Beckham’s H&M Super Bowl underwear commercial.
STORY: BOUNCED! Roland Martin Suspended From CNN!
While watching the Super Bowl this past Sunday along with 111 million other people, Martin decided to tweet a few jokes ribbing Beckham and his sultry H&M underwear ad.
STORY: Roland Martin Tweets & GLAAD Wants Him Fired!
In series of tweets Martin said:
“Ain’t no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear!”
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the sh@t out of him!”
“I bet soccer fan Piers Morgan will be in line at H&M in the morning to get his hands on David Beckham’s underwear line! LOL.”
Martin’s off centered jesting wasn’t received well by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
The following day GLAAD demanded that CNN fire Martin because of his tweets. GLAAD stated that Martin’s tweets on Sunday seemed to advocate violence against gays.
But what is this really about? Is it free speech wrapped in homophobic language that has GLAAD up in arms?
A couple of points in this story didn’t sit right with me:
One, I hope GLAAD isn’t turning into another special interest group that has knee-jerk reactions and demands people get fired for the things they say just because they don’t agree with their speech.
Two, GLAAD can’t censor every little thing someone says that they deem homophobic.
I don’t think Martin should be fired or suspended for what he said. And I hope again, GLAAD doesn’t turn into every other special interest group in this country who reacts to the smallest of issues.
GLAAD wants to promote understanding and build support for equality in their community, and then they should understand that from time to time people are going to say stupid shit that’s homophobic, but they shouldn’t demand someone losing their livelihood.
I understand that Martin is a public figure of sorts and he isn’t excused, he just made bad jokes in bad taste that GLAAD didn’t find funny or agree with.
Three, I understand that GLADD has to uphold their reputation as the watch dogs of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered community and making sure that they hold the media accountable for their words and images they put out there, whether on Facebook and Twitter, but please don’t become a fringe group shake-down company for apologizes and donations, that isn’t right.
Fourth, their tactics are backward; they demand Martin’s firing a day after his tweet, he apologizes, then a few days pass and they organize a sit-down to talk with him to engage in friendly dialogue.
Couldn’t we have just skipped the hoopla of firings and apologies and go straight to the talking? Wouldn’t it have been easier to send him a tweet telling him that what he was saying bordered on homophobia and he should stop?
And I’m not going to bash GLAAD, they’ve done tremendous work for over 25 years and their efforts have changed this country for the better.
STORY: What In The?!? Atlanta Gang Beats Down Gay Man (GRAPHIC VIDEO)
I applaud GLAAD in their efforts to stop violence against gays, as they did in standing with members of Atlanta’s LGBT community demanding that the beating of an openly gay black man be investigated to the fullest after a video surfaced showing an unidentified young man repeatedly being kicked and punched by a group of men shouting “fa**ot” while holding up gang signs.
Those are the real enemies, not Roland Martin sending a few tweets from his house while watching the Super Bowl.
