Jonah Hill Apologizes For Calling Paparazzi A “Faggot.” The Gay Mafia Strikes Again? (VIDEO)

Comedian and movie star Jonah Hill appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show to apologize profusely for calling a paparazzi who was stalking him a “faggot.” Hill joins a long line of celebrities caught on camera in recent years, following people like Alec Baldwin and Donald Sterling, who both have been captured on camera or audio recording saying racist or homophobic remarks. The only different is how each have been treated in the media and public scrutiny.

To Hill’s credit, he’s taken an active part in speaking out against homophobia and bias against gays in the past. The anger he directs at the cameraman seems unrelated to sexuality as much as the rage he feels on being followed and harassed. Who hasn’t let something burst in a fit of anger that they didn’t mean?

HILL CALLS REPORTER A FAGGOT

HILL APOLOGIZES

Alec Baldwin reportedly lost his TV show on MSNBC due to calling a reporter a faggot for similar reasons as Hill. The invasive methods of the paparazzi have been known to drive celebrities into uncontrolled rages but the public backlash seems fairly selective in how they treat the offender. Baldwin was punished with losing his show. Donald Sterling was punished for racist remarks by being forced to sell his team the L.A. Clippers. Will there be any sort of similar backlash to Jonah Hill?

That seems unlikely.

Why? Possibly because Hill is considered a comedian. We generally give a wide leeway to comedians for their behavior, even if the offensive language they use is not in the context of a joke. Take for example the remarks of Louis C.K. who gave a standup comedy speech extolling the virtues of the word “faggot” and claiming that he didn’t want to give it up because it had so much power. Louis claims that the word doesn’t mean someone is gay, it just means that someone is acting like a little faggot. Louis C.K. makes a brilliant argument against political correctness, and the freedom of speech in his comedy sketch.

And tangentially related to this story is the question that John Stossel asked on Fox Business last month of whether or not there is a powerful gay mafia that is policing free speech. Stossel relates it to the story of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, who resigned in the face of pressure when it was found out that he donated to Proposition 8 in California which temporarily banned gay marriage in the state. Stossel wondered if the free market might sometimes go too far in punishing people for their views.

My own opinion was contrary to that.


I believe that the market punishing certain types of homophobic or racist speech is a necessary and desirable function of the market, and that people should not be protected from the consequences of their speech. The only real question is: why do some people get in big trouble and face devastating reprisals for their speech when other people get away with a mere slap on the wrist?

Is it really because comedians get a wider leeway than people like Baldwin, Brendan Eich, or Donald Sterling? Is there a double standard? I’m interested in your thoughts so leave them in the comment section below.

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