Apologizing for a joke: Gilbert Gottfried repents for his Japan tsunami Tweet

Gilbert Gottfried has enjoyed a long career in comedy by telling dirty jokes and offending people.

Last year, however, Gottfried apologized for a joke he wrote on Twitter that made light of the tsunami that devastated Japan. It was his first apology over a joke. He explained his thought process to 92YTribeca’s Rabbi-In-Residence Dan Ain earlier this year. Which the folks at the 92nd Street Y uploaded online this week to honor the grand Jewish tradition of repenting and apologizing during the high holidays from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur.

So, with that in mind, roll the clip!

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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4 thoughts on “Apologizing for a joke: Gilbert Gottfried repents for his Japan tsunami Tweet

  1. What happened in Japan is horrible and I cannot fathom what kind of devastation it caused to the people affected directly & indirectly by it. However, I feel Gilbert shouldn’t have apologized for his joke. He’s a comic by trade. It’s his job to look at life and share humor with others. The gift Gilbert has is to be able to comment on anything (his 9/11 Empire State building joke slayed even with the awkward gasp afterwards) and he’s never used it to be controversial. It’s part of his routine.

    If he were to apologize for anything, I would say maybe the forum it was presented. On stage, cool. Online – it’s a different standard.

  2. I have been a fan of Gilbert’s since “The Comedy Channel” first started. All the vile, tactless crap that I’ve heard come out of this man’s mouth for the last 25 years, and he gets in trouble for making fun of Japanese people? Japanese people are funny. And even dumber, people seemed shocked that he would make a tasteless joke about it. Hell no, he shouldn’t apologize. Louis CK (who I also like) made a joke about molesting a dead kid. No one asked him to apologize, cause it was funny People are dumb as shit

  3. I’d just like to point out that if some non-American made fun of 9/11 like that, Americans would want his head.
    Joan Rivers was the only one to do it early on, and she still got shit for it. But you know what? She’s American, so it’s different. When you’re sitting on the sidelines laughing at people suffering, it’s totally different than when it’s happening to you or your people. Rivers had a personal connection, Gottfried didn’t. So it wasn’t appropriate. Also, that kind of humor is totally acceptable in a club, but he deserved getting fired for spreading it online.
    I don’t hate Gottfried. Hell, I blogged about all of this already – I like him. But I was hoping he made a more heartfelt apology :S. It didn’t seem like he really cared at all.

  4. Gottfried shouldn’t have apologized AND should have been fired. He was not acting as a comic for an insurance company. He was a pitchman. When you act as a corporate pitchman.. expect to abide by their rules or lose your job.

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