Before Scott Gurney created the A+E Networks’s Duck Dynasty, he starred as a gay porn star in a 2001 movie called The Fluffer. Thisadds an interesting twist to the ongoing saga of Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson being suspended for anti-gay comments made to GQ Magazine earlier this week.
The Fluffer, which was an independent film that played at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. The credit is currently listed on Gurney’s IMDb page.
According to Buzzfeed, calls to Gurney Productions and A+E for comment have gone unanswered.
Gurney’s character in The Fluffer is gay-for-pay and a meth addict. He becomes the object of obsession for a male film student who gets a job as his on-set fluffer.
Clip description: “With the controversy over Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson’ comments about homosexuality dominating cable news Thursday, Jon Stewart really had no choice but to offer the world his take on the issue. The Daily Show host took the opportunity to deliver a scathing take down of the “free speech absolutists” at Fox News.
“Look, I think what the guy said is ignorant,” Stewart said, “but I also have an inclination to support a world where saying ignorant shit on television doesn’t get you kicked off that medium.” But does Fox News truly believe you shouldn’t “pressure people to have to adhere to cultural norms of speech?”
“This led to an epic “War on Christmas” montage, after which Stewart explained that Fox’s “belief in free speech doesn’t extend to the holidays where the word Christmas is mandatory.”
So, on one hand, the Teabaggers say Phil Robertson should be able to say what he wants with no repercussions.
BUT – folks during the holidays should be REQUIRED to use the word “Christmas” and not “Holidays” (i.e. “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”). Isn’t that censorship also? Don’t people have a right to use the words “Happy Holidays” if they want without getting attacked?
Along the same lines, when Martin Bashir suggested someone should defecate in Sarah Palin’s mouth (and subsequently had to resign from his position at MSNBC), why weren’t the rignt wingers coming to HIS First Amendment defense?
TMZ has posted a 3-year-old video shows “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson demonizing LGBT people as “insolent” and “evil.” Robertson apparently delivered the anti-gay sermon at Berean Bible Church in Pennsylvania.
“First they say, ‘There is no God. Get him out of your mind,’” Robertson said, waving a Bible. “Then they bow down to birds, animals and reptiles, and each other, and the first thing you see coming out of that book is gross sexual immorality.”
“Women with women, men with men, they committed indecent acts with one another, and they received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions,” Robertson said. “They’re full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, God-haters. They are heartless, they are faithless, they are senseless, they are ruthless. They invent ways of doing evil. That’s what you have 235 years, roughly, after your forefathers founded the country.
Robertson was “suspended” by A+E Network as a result of anti-gay comments made in a GQ Magazine interview earlier this week.
In related news, the Robertson family has now issued a statement saying they won’t do the show without their homophobic patriarch:
“As a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of ‘Duck Dynasty.'”
After showing a statement from Robertson regarding his homophobic remarks, Kelly turned to the panel, and right off the bad Bernard Whitman condemned Robertson’s “disgusting,” “really reprehensible” remarks and said he should get the boot.
Arthur Aidala and Monica Crowley vehemently disagreed, and all three got in a heated back-and-forth about the free speech issues here. Aidala cried, “There’s something called the First Amendment!” Crowley called it a “classic example of the word police, political correctness.”
Whitman shot back that Robertson has every right to say hateful things at “hate speech conventions” but remarks like that have no place in the public square. He said, “Our country’s not founded on hate.” Aidala shot back, “No, it’s founded on free speech!”
A&E is a private company that clearly doesn’t believe in homophobia, so they suspended an employee for making homophobic remarks. It’s got nothing to do with freedom of speech or the First Amendment because this is not government censorship.
In a statement, A+E Networks said he had been placed on indefinite hiatus.
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series ‘Duck Dynasty,’” the company said. “His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”
GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz applauded the suspension, saying that it sends “a strong message.”
“What’s clear is that such hateful anti-gay comments are unacceptable to fans, viewers, and networks alike,” Cruz said. “By taking quick action and removing Robertson from future filming, A&E has sent a strong message that discrimination is neither a Christian nor an American value.”
In his comments, Robertson compared equated homosexuality with bestiality, among other things.
Right wing websites are losing their minds saying this is an attack on free speech and the First Amendment. Quick refresher on a couple of things:
The 1st amendment does not mean you can say whatever you want to say. It only means the government cannot punish you. It was written aimed primarily at allowing people to criticize the government and governmental officials without reprimand.
Freedom of speech does not give you freedom from consequences. If you don’t believe me, go into work tomorrow and call your boss an “asshole” and see what the First Amendment does for you. It’s an easy exercise in how it all works.
Like I always say “Act like a fool, get treated like a fool.”
As I reported earlier, “Duck Dynasty” personality Phil Robertson told GQ Magazinew that homosexuality is a “sin,” citing his Christian faith and the Bible as the basis of his belief:
“Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right,” he told the magazine.
Robertson has now issued a pseudo-apology sent by his network A&E to the Huffington Post:
“I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together,” says the duck hunter.
Robertson goes on, “However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”
Being such a good Christian, I wonder – did Robertson think his original statement was “loving?”
GLAAD has issued a statement slamming the reality star for his remarks.
“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe. He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans – and Americans – who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples,” says a spokesperson.
The rep adds, “Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families.”
Duck Dynasty personality (and Tea Party hero) Phil Robertson has shares his anti-gay animus with GQ Magazine in an interview that includes this statement:
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.
[snip]
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”
Bryan Fischer, of the anti-gay hate group American Family Association, is absolutely giddy over Robertson’s statements:
In a press statement, GLAAD says that Robertson’s “statement is far outside of the mainstream understanding of LGBT people.”
“In Louisiana, which passed a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, 56% of the population support some sort of legal recognition, marriage or civil unions, for gay and lesbian couples according to Public Policy Polling released in August 2013.”
