Jason Alexander Issues Lengthy Apology for Calling Cricket a "Gay Game"
Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander issued a length apology to GLAAD over the weekend after he called cricket a "gay game" on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson more than a week ago.
On the show, the ex-Seinfeld star said it was a "queer British gay pitch" as opposed to a "manly baseball pitch." Soon after his comments on the sport caught fire, Alexander defended his remarks on Twitter, saying "Though I don't follow the rules of cricket, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching it played. But if we can't laugh, we are doomed."
However, Alexander said he realized the weight of his words days later after he asked some of his gay friends about it. "As we explored it, we began to realize what was implied under the humor," he said. "I was basing my use of the word 'gay' on the silly generalization that real men don't do gentile, refined things and that my portrayal of the cricket pitch was pointedly effeminate , thereby suggesting that effeminate and gay were synonymous."
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Alexander said he should know better after having openly advocated on his gay friends' behalf for years, and after being the target of insults and jokes himself when he grew up in a small town listening to musical theater and studying acting. "So, I would like to say — I now get it. And to the extent that these jokes made anyone feel even more isolated or misunderstood or just plain hurt — please know that was not my intention, at all or ever," he said. "I hope we will someday live in a society where we are so accepting of each other that we can all laugh at jokes like these and know that there is no malice or diminishment intended."
He added: "I can only apologize and I do. In comedy, timing is everything. And when a group of people are still fighting so hard for understanding, acceptance, dignity and essential rights — the time for some kinds of laughs has not yet come."
You can read Alexander's full apology here.