The last thing people need to make jokes about is the tsunami that hit Japan Friday. The amount of devastation and loss of life, not to mention the current nuclear meltdown situation, is nothing to make light of, which is why it’s really saddening to write the bit of news I’m reporting in this article.
According to CinemaBlend and The Hollywood Reporter, comedian and voice of the Aflac Duck Gilbert Gottfried has been fired from the insurance company for a series of jokes he made on Twitter about the disaster.
His tweets include, “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them,” “Japan called me. They said “maybe those jokes are a hit in the US, but over here, they’re all sinking,” and “Japan had put out this urgent plea….” PLEASE SEND US A FEW BIlLION RUBBER DUCKIES!!!!!”
Since the tweets, he’s been under heavy fire from the twitterati, but all of this has been capped off by his firing.
Aflac Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna stated, “Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac… There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.”
The company is now holding a nationwide casting call for the new voice of the Aflac Duck.
Amazingly enough, Gottfried isn’t the only one trying to douse public relations fires over tweets concerning the tsunami; 50 Cent recently made a “joke” about the tsunami, stating “Wave will hit 8am them crazy white boys gonna try to go surfing.” He later apologized, saying that he only made the “ignorant” remark for “shock value”. Sigh.
Gilbert Gottfried
