CNN's Ronald Martin Suspended over anti-gay tweets
Roland Martin, political analyst for CNN, is under fire for a ‘tweet’ he sent on during Super Bowl XLVI.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Martin sent a tweet out regarding soccer star David Beckham is near-naked Super Bowl commercial. On Twitter he states, “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him."
The Gay and Lesbian community are up in arms over the comments stating it promotes violence against gays.
Ace Show Biz notes that CNN is calling Martin’s comments, “regrettable and offensive.” Martin has since been suspended and is said to not be on air “for a while.”
CNN released a statement which says, "Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being."
Rich Ferraro, a spokesperson for GLADD, sent out a statement supporting CNN’s decision to suspend Martin, stating, “CNN today took a strong stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community."
At the time, Martin consistently sent out tweets defending his previous statements and likewise, sending out even more offensive material. Such tweets include, “Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass,” and, "I know what I said, why I said it, and it's consistent with me cracking on soccer. Deal with it."
Later, in his blog, Martin sent out a statement. He writes, "I often make jokes about soccer in the U.S., and my crack about David Beckham's commercial was related to that and not to anyone's sexuality. To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I'm truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant.”
It is still unknown how long Martin’s suspension will last.