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Sarah Silverman (and one of her gay fans) explains the difference between her "antigay" tweets and Kevin Hart's.
After Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars, due to the revelation of antigay tweets from his past, Nick Cannon resurfaced social media posts from white female comedians that used similar slurs.
"This is what a fag bird likes [sic] like when he flexes," Chelsea Handler wrote in 2012.
"Interesting ... I wonder if there was any backlash here..." read Cannon's Twitter caption, implying that there is a double standard regarding race in public opinion. Cannon also called out questionable posts from Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman.
"I don't mean this in a hateful way, but the new Bachelorette's a faggot," Silverman tweeted in 2010.
\u201cAnd I fucking love Wreck it Ralph!!! \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d— Nick Cannon (@Nick Cannon) 1544240190
Silverman responded Monday to the issue after a social media user accused her of hypocrisy. "But that whole part where you replied to a tweet where you used a word with 'I don't use that word,'" the Twitter user stated about using the f word.
To which Silverman responded, "Haven't for years. I did then. I don't now. See? But even then (I thought) I was using it comedically as an ally (liberal bubble bullshit, I know now)."
\u201c@yoda Haven\u2019t for years. I did then. I don\u2019t now. See?\nBut even then (I thought) I was using it comedically as an ally (liberal bubble bullshit, I know now) \u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Sarah Silverman (@Sarah Silverman) 1544411975
Silverman also retweeted a thread from Greg Hogben, the gay author of My Daughter's Army, in which Hogben explains to Cannon why intent matters when a straight person uses a word like "fag." Hogben explained why "gay men don't see" use of the f word by Hart and Silverman "the same," because with Silverman, they see the word as a joke, whereas with Hart, who stated he would physically injure his son if he found out he were gay," it felt malicious."
\u201cHey @NickCannon, I understand the comparison you\u2019re trying to make between Kevin Hart and these comediennes, but as a gay guy, let me share my opinion with you. This isn\u2019t a rant, it\u2019s more of an explanation of why *I see a difference.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cDo you remember the first time you saw someone get punched in real life? There was no sound effect \u2018thwack\u2019 like in the movies. The victim probably didn\u2019t do a perfect movie stuntman roll. Could you feel the violence behind it? Recognize the malicious intent to inflict injury?\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cThat\u2019s what homophobia feels like to me. I can feel the violence. I can feel the malicious intent. There\u2019s been a trend of LGBT allies being accused of homophobia recently. Mostly it\u2019s jokes about Trump/Putin relationship.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cSome people saw these jokes as homophobic, some saw them as a humorous way of point out the power imbalance. I think it started with Stephen Colbert's cock holster joke.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cThen Chelsea Handler and Jimmy Kimmel we\u2019re accused of being homophobic with the same joke.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cThe Bette Midler - LIFETIME LGBT ALLY GODDESS BETTE MIDLER - was accused of homophobia.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cThe thing is, a lot of gay guys didn\u2019t take offence to these comments, because we didn\u2019t feel the violence or malicious intent behind it. Because we knew they were jokes. Because we knew these people were LGBT allies.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cIn fact I, like hundreds of thousands of gay men, have actually PAID to see comediennes like Joan Rivers or Lisa Lampanelli make jokes that involved gay men. And we laughed at them, because we knew they were jokes.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cWe also knew the history and backgrounds of these women. They used their massive platforms to help us long before marriage equality. And continue to do so. To use your examples of Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer...\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cI can\u2019t say the same for Kevin Hart. I can't find a history of helping at risk LGBT youth. To be honest, his tweets and his stand-up gig saying he\u2019d \u2018do anything not to have a gay son,' made me bristle. In short, it *felt malicious.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
\u201cI appreciate Kevin Hart\u2019s apology and think it\u2019s great that he\u2019s \u2018evolved and grown,\u2019 but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s much of a comparison in your tweet.\nSo while I understand your attempt to \u201cboth sides\u201d this issue, I hope you can see why some gay men don\u2019t see it the same.\u201d— Greg Hogben (@Greg Hogben) 1544365035
Of course, Silverman has vowed not to use the f word again to due the offense the slur can cause. Gay comedian Billy Eichner also advocated for ending use of the word altogether.
"I agree that the best thing to do is to just not use the damn word! As a gay man, unless it's perhaps a gay friend of mine saying it to me at a LIVELY BRUNCH, I don't like hearing it," Eichner wrote Sunday on Twitter.
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