Tracy Morgan just can’t seem to catch a break or at least keep his foot out of his mouth. The 33-year old comedian is being criticized once again for joking about the mentally challenged and disabled in his return to stand-up.
Nonprofit organization The Arc, which assists people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is demanding a public apology for remarks he made in a routine over the weekend when he joked about “retarded kids” and compared them to “chimps.”
“Don’t mess with women who have retarded kids,” he said. “Them young retarded males is strong. They’re strong like chimps.”
Making matters worse, Morgan then followed that up with a joke about hooking up with a girl he called “a cripple” with a dialysis machine and a prosthetic arm.
“Tracy Morgan should apologize immediately,” says The Arc’s CEO, Peter Berns. “This quote is far too offensive to be excused as comedy, and it is very hurtful to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.”
“Mr. Morgan has an incredibly powerful platform from which to fix this, and if he’s learned anything in the last few weeks, he can’t bomb this apology.”
The appearance was Morgan’s first performance since his infamous homophobic rant in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this month.
The comedian has repeatedly apologized for the rant since but it remains to be seen whether he will bow down to the disabilities group.