Globes Telecast Being Examined by the FCC
The FCC is investigating complaints concerning possible violations of decency rules during Sunday's Golden Globe Awards show.
Last year, there was no Golden Globes telecast. Maybe this year they should have kept it that way.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the FCC is reviewing NBC's 2009 Golden Globe Awards show, aired last Sunday, for possible violations of the indecency rules which govern what can be shown on broadcast television.
FCC spokeswoman Edie Herman says, "We received 18 complaints about the Golden Globes telecast, and the commission is reviewing the matter."
The section of the telecast that most likely led to the multiple complaints came during actor Mickey Rourke's acceptance of an award for his role in The Wrestler. David Aronofsky, the film's director, jokingly "flipped the bird" at Rourke while the actor was thanking him. That particular gesture has long been deemed obscene by the FCC.
The show was aired live on the East coast, while NBC was apparently able to censor any obscenities by using a tape delay in the West.
Indecency rule violations have been a subject that has garnered much attention since Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. CBS was fined $500,000 for airing (live) the footage of Jackson's bared right breast, but had the ruling overturned by a court last year.
