On George Lopez’ newest special It’s Not Me, It’s You, which debuted live on HBO this past weekend, Lopez warns: “I’m gonna talk a lot of shit today.” And talk shit he did. And as a result, the veteran comedian upset some members of the LGBT community after a questionable choice of words. Also not happy post-performance is Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Lopez goes off on a two-minute tirade against Mitt Romney and Joe Arpaio, joking that Romney is Latino but won’t admit it. “If you want our vote, puto,” says Lopez, “come out of the closet!”
Jimmy LaSalvia, the co-founder and executive of a conservative LGBT group called GOProud (who endorses Romney), spoke out against Lopez and his use of the word “puto,” which literally means “male prostitute” but also carries homophobic connotations. GoProud’s stance is that homophobia is often overlooked when it comes from the left. LaSalvia and the GoProud group is calling for a public apology from Lopez.
LaSalvia tells Laughspin, “It’s just another in a long line of examples of when liberals can use homophobic slurs and not face any consequences.” LaSalvia alluded to the recent controversy surrounding sex columnist Dan Savage, who called the group “House faggots” after they announced their endorsement of Romney.
So here’s what prompted Arpaio — the Department of Justice is currently suing him for alleged discrimination against Latinos — to say this morning, “Get some guts. And come down here, and meet me face to face.”
“Fuck you, you fucking puto. How about that? Fuck you. You fat motherfucker. Fuck you. I said I was going to talk some shit. Fuck you Sheriff Joe you fucking puto. Fuck you. Fuck you.”
You can see clips of Lopez’ material and Arpaio’s response included with the original story at LaughSpin.
It’s pretty clear Arpaio loves the attention. He’s already tweeted about Lopez three times — “Go back to school. Learn to make intelligent commentary rather than dropping F bombs for a laugh,” he said in one — and even uploaded a clip from the HBO special on his own YouTube channel!
What do you think? Was Lopez’ choice of words a big deal? We expect that our readers probably share our feelings – that Lopez’ material is not worthy of the controversy, and that he should not have to apologize (and we’re sick of comedians being asked to apologize for their material, in general) – but feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section!
Written by Lucas Gardner
Read the original story at LaughSpin,
