-
Fox Host Gibson Defends Cracking Sick Jokes About Heath Ledger's Death
On his radio show yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson responded to ThinkProgress' criticism of his comments mocking the death of Heath Ledger, saying that it was just "a little Brokeback Mountain joke" and there is "no point in passing up a good joke."
Without offering any sort of apology, Gibson defended his callous comments by claiming that "for months and months and months," his show has consistently made fun of the line, "I wish I knew how to quit you" from Brokeback Mountain. "I'm not giving that up," exclaimed Gibson:
GIBSON: How many months did we live off that line, Brokeback Mountain?
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN CLIP: I wish I knew how to quit you.
ANGRY RICH: Several.
GIBSON: I mean, it was going on for months and months and months.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN CLIP: Wooee, yeah!
GIBSON: I'm not giving that up.On MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning, host Joe Scarborough described the homophobic undertones of Gibson's "little Brokeback Mountain joke," calling it "mean-spirited and hateful" that "if you make a movie about being gay, your death becomes a punchline."
When Gibson's sidekick, Angry Rich, read him a negative comment left by a ThinkProgress reader (which the site does not endorse) calling the Fox News host "a closet homosexual," Gibson responded by laughing and quipping "well, I'm still breathing":
ANGRY RICH: You're "a closet homosexual." That's the first one.
GIBSON: Oh, I am?
ANGRY RICH: Apparently.
GIBSON: Ha ha ha, well I'm still breathing. There's the difference right there.
Stay up to date with the latest AlterNet headlines via email
