Summit County Progressive Democrats -- Rapid Response

Sept 3, 2007

ACTION

Contact NBC News and CNBC News and shows to urge them to publicly address Tucker Carlson’s comments making light of perpetrating violence towards an unwanted sexual advance. Ask if Carlson’s on-air comments reflect the network’s standards and practices. Encourage Tucker Carlson to apologize for bragging about physically assaulting a man for an unwanted sexual advance.

CONTACT INFO

Steve Capus, President, NBC News steve.capus@nbc.com

Jeremy Gaines, Vice President of Communications, MSNBC jeremy.gaines@msnbc.com

Leslie Schwartz, Director of Media Relations, MSNBC leslie.schwartz@msnbc.com

Joe Scarborough, joe@msnbc.com

MSNBC Live with Don Abrams abramsreport@msnbc.com

Tucker Carlson, Host, “Tucker” tucker@msnbc.com

DESCRIPTION

On the Tuesday, Aug. 28 edition of “MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams” MSNBC host Tucker Carlson referenced an incident from his past when he was the recipient of an unwanted advance from another man. Carlson told program host (and MSNBC General Manager) Dan Abrams and fellow MSNBC host Joe Scarborough that after being “bothered” by a man in a restroom in a Washington, D.C., mall, Carlson returned “with someone [he] knew and grabbed the guy… and hit him against the stall with his head, actually. And then the cops came and arrested him.” Abrams and Scarborough are seen chuckling throughout Carlson’s telling of the story.

Organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) have called on Carlson to apologize for his grossly inappropriate remarks.

Abrams' office responded with an e-mailed statement attributed to Carlson, which read:

“Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.”The statement is not only a failed attempt to justify Carlson’s advocacy of violence, but also changes key details of the previous night’s on-air story. First, Carlson does not repeat his assertion that he "hit him against the stall with his head," instead changing his story to say that he "seized the man and held him down until a security guard arrived." The security guard element is also newly invented. In his on-air statement, Carlson said that "the cops came and arrested him." Meanwhile, MSNBC has remained silent about the incident.

TALKING POINTS

During the Don Imus controversy, Steve Capus, president of NBC News acknowledged "that there have been any number of other comments that have been enormously hurtful to far too many people. And my feeling is that ... there should not be a place for that on MSNBC." He also stated: "This is about trust. It's about reputation. It's about doing what's right," later adding, "Ihe dialogue about what is appropriate conduct and speech, to continue the dialogue about what is happening in America. I think we have, as broadcasters, a responsibility to address those matters." It’s time for MSNBC to repudiate Carlson’s comments or be risk being seen as endorsing them.
NBC News and MSNBC need to explain whether bragging about physically assaulting a man in response to an unwanted advance is appropriate on-air behavior for one of their employees, and whether laughter by two others is an appropriate on-air response.
Tucker Carlson must apologize, not only for bragging about perpetrating violence, but also about the misstatement after the fact.
If any female commentator physically attacked a man for an unwanted sexual advance, you can be assured that male commentators wouldn’t chuckle at it, and the news organization wouldn’t remain silent about it. There is no reason why this situation shouldn’t generate the same response from NBC News and MSNBC as that would.

MORE INFORMATION

http://mediamatters.org/items/200708300006

https://www.glaad.org/action/alerts_detail.php?id=4046

Previous Alerts:

FISA COURT REVISIONS FOR WIRETAPPING

RESTORE HABEAS CORPUS & REAL ID

Oppose Confimation of James Holsinger