Will CNN Fire Roland Martin? Analyst in Twitter Controversy Over Posts on David Beckham H&M Ad
Will CNN follow GLAAD's suggestion and fire Roland S. Martin?
Martin's job could be on the line following his Twitter activity on Super Bowl Sunday. And it all centers on the new H&M ad with David Beckham.
If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! Martin, a CNN analyst, wrote on Twitter, in response to the commercial.
The H&M ad shows the LA Galaxy star modeling his new underwear collection, wearing nothing but, well, underwear (video below).
Moments after Martin's comment, GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and several followers responded in fury.
@rolandsmartin I don't know if you tweeted that out of some repressed sexual desire you may have, but I do know it is homophobic, wrote one follower.
@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT, the Alliance wrote on its official Twitter page.
The Alliance also launched a campaign titled Enough is enough: tell CNN to fire Roland Martin, along with a petition that has been signed by more than 1,900 people.
Martin, 43, was under fire earlier in the day as well, when he made a questionable Twitter comment about the attire of a New England Patriot.
Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to doe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdata**, he wrote.
As GLAAD points out, Martin last made headlines in June 2011 when he reacted to Tracy Morgan's comments about stabbing his son if he were gay.
If we are to demand an apology for every time a comedian is sexist against men or women, racist or homophobic, we might as well launch a website called www.comediansapologizedaily.com. Say I'm wrong. Fine. Say I'm insensitive to gays and lesbians. Fine, Martin wrote on his blog at the time.
Since Sunday's comments on Beckham's H&M ad, Martin has posted multiple times on Twitter that his words were meant to be taken as a crack on soccer.
@glaad @CNN well you're clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you're way off base, Martin wrote.
On Monday morning, Martin issued a statement via Twitter, reiterating that his comments were part of a rant on soccer.
Fam, let me address the issue that some in the LGBT community have raised regarding some of my Super Bowl tweets yesterday. I made several cracks about soccer as I do all the time. I was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I'm sorry folks took it otherwise. It was meant to be a deliberately over the top and sarcastic crack about soccer; I do not advocate violence of any kind against anyone gay, or not. As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, anytime soccer comes up during football season it's another chance for me to take a playful shot at soccer, nothing more, he wrote.
Martin's Twitter fiasco is the latest controversy to come out of Super Bowl XLVI. Also on Monday morning, NBC issued an apology regarding Sri Lankan singer M.I.A. Viewers witnessed the superstar flipping the bird during Sunday's halftime show performance with Madonna and Nicki Minaj.
We apologize for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime . . . it was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late, NBC spokesperson Christopher McCloskey said.
In addition to his post at CNN, Martin is a commentator for TV One Cable Network and editor of Washington Watch. Martin has been a contributing senior analyst at CNN since 2007.
Do you think Roland Martin should be fired from CNN? Do you believe that his smack the ish comment was only part of a soccer rant? Share your comments below.
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