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Sarah Silverman Promises She's Done with Using 'Gay' In Her Comedy

Sarah Silverman

The comedian doubled down on her promise to avoid 'gay' in her comedy after she was called out in light of the Kevin Hart homophobic slur controversy. 

Last week Nick Cannon called out the double standards people of color face as opposed to white people following short-lived Oscar host Kevin Hart's announcement that he was stepping down from hosting the event after tweets from 2011 that contained homophobic slurs resurfaced. Cannon pointed out the inconsistency by retweeting Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and Sarah Silverman, who had all either made gay jokes or used gay slurs including the f word on social media. Now, Silverman, who's spoken out for LGBTQ people and who's fought for marriage equality, has unequivocally said that she's done with gay jokes.

"I'm done with that. I think I can find other ways to be funny," Silverman told TMZ when the site asked her about her language that included homophobic slurs. "I used to say 'gay' all the time. Oh, that's so gay.' We're from Boston. We'd go, That's what we say in Boston. I have gay friends. I just say gay."

"And then I heard myself and I realized I was like the guy who says What? I say colored. I have colored friends," Silverman added. "I realized it was stupid and I'm certainly creative enough to think of other words besides that, that don't hurt people. But I fuck up all the time."

Hart, who was announced as the host of the Academy Awards earlier this month, was pressured to apologize for tweets he'd sent in 2011 in which he said he'd beat a son over the head if his child were gay and liked playing with dollhouses. The comedian refused to apologize at first but eventually tweeted out a statement as he stepped down from the gig.

"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing, talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past," Hart wrote on Twitter.

"I'm sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so," He continued. "My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."

Following Hart's apology, Cannon stepped into the controversy and began tweeting out instances of Silverman, Schumer, and Handler using gay as a punchline. At that time, Silverman tweeted in response to social media user who questioned her past use of thef word that she had been wrong in doing so.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.