CNN suspends Roland Martin for homophobic, violent tweets
CNN political analyst belittled men wearing pink and the near-naked H&M David Beckham ad via Twitter during the Super Bowl--tweets that some critics say were anti-gay and violent.
CNN's political analyst Roland Martin got in a tweet-war during Sunday's Super Bowl game. And because of it, CNN has suspended him.
The debacle began when he tweeted, "If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him," referring to the H&M David Beckham ad that ran during the game and showed the soccer player in nothing but underwear.
Martin also tweeted, "Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass."
When Twitter users began corresponding with him saying that his comments seemed to be homophobic and condoning violence, he defensively tweeted back saying that he just didn't like soccer.
"are you that dumb? I rag on soccer all of the time. David Beckham. Soccer player. Pay the hell attention!," read one of Martin's tweets, and another said, "well you're the one who chose to jump to homosexuality when I'm cracking on soccer. Yes, ignorant."
After the game, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said that Martin's comments supported violence against gays and lesbians and constituted bullying.
Later, Martin wrote an apology on his Web site. "That is furthest from the truth, and I sincerely regret any offense my words have caused," he wrote. "I'm disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice."
Still, for CNN, Martin went too far. Today, the news source announced that Martin's tweets were "regrettable and offensive" and he would not appear on the air "for the time being." CNN added that, "Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated."