Sept. 13 (UPI) — Norm Macdonald appeared on “The View” Thursday where he apologized for remarks he made regarding Down syndrome and clarified controversial statements he made recently that defended comedians Roseanne Barr and Louis C.K.
Macdonald, who has been busy promoting his new Netflix series “Norm Macdonald Has a Show,” first came under fire when he said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he was glad that the #MeToo movement has slowed down while defending Barr and C.K.
The interview caused “The Tonight Show” to cancel a scheduled appearance from Macdonald and prompted the comedian to apologize on Twitter about how he didn’t mean to minimize the pain of victims affected by Barr and C.K.
Macdonald made his Down syndrome remarks on Wednesday while appearing on “The Howard Stern Show.”
“You’d have to have Down syndrome not to feel sorry for [#MeToo victims].” he said on the talk show.
“There is a thing on Howard where there’s a recklessness in the studio,” Macdonald said on “The View” during his apology about how instead of saying Down syndrome, he wanted to use a different word.
“Stupidly, I was about to say that word and then I stopped and said, ‘What’s the right word to say?’ And then I said a different word that was equally offensive. I realized in that moment that was something unforgivable,” he continued. “The remark I made about people with Down syndrome was just a terrible, terrible thing for me to say.”
“View” host Joy Behar also asked for Macdonald to clarify his remarks made to The Hollywood Reporter and if he really thought the hardship faced by C.K. was equal to the hardship faced by his victims.
According to Macdonald, that is not what he meant and instead he was commenting on how he brought C.K. and Barr together to talk as they had gone through similar things.
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“Of course the victims have gone through worse…”
After apologizing for “minimizing the pain” of victims, comedian Norm Macdonald explains his controversial comments on the backlash to Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr. https://abcn.ws/2OfL5zO
“I said, ‘I know Louis and he’s been through this.’ He’s had everything taken from him. And I said, ‘Not many of us have gone through this. So you should talk to each other,'” Macdonald said of what he told Barr. “And then [THR asked], ‘Well, what about the victims?’ And I said, ‘Well, the victims haven’t gone through this.’ I was talking about this particular event. Of course, the victims have gone through worse than that. But what? Am I going to get a victim to phone Roseanne?”
“Norm Macdonald Has a Show” premieres on Friday.
