We’re sure some hardcore sports fans had some choice words during last night’s Super Bowl, but Chicago columnist Roland Martin wasn’t directing his ire at the Pats or the Giants.
After H&M’s sexy underwear ad with David Beckham ran, Martin tweeted to almost 95,000 followers:
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl”
If this were a pro athlete we might expect such ignorance, but Martin makes his living with his words—he’s a regular on CNN, MSNBC, BET, BBC and Fox News, and is a commentator on TV One, an African-American network available in over 36 million homes. Making a crack at someone’s expense is fine, but when you’re a public figure, even jokingly advocating violence is just plain stupid.
In response, GLAAD tweeted:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT“
Apparently, though, Martin decided he could fit more of his foot in his mouth. He replied:
“@glaad @CNN well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you’re way off base”
Martin’s lovely sentiments weren’t contained to twitter—this morning he posted to his Facebook fan page:
“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”
Since making the comments, Martin has suggested his tweets were regarding soccer fans, not gay men. On his Facebook status, he wrote:
I made several cracks about soccer as I do all the time. I was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I’m sorry folks took it otherwise. It was meant to be a deliberately over the top and sarcastic crack about soccer; I do not advocate violence of any kind against anyone gay, or not. As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, anytime soccer comes up during football season. season it’s another chance for me to take a playful shot at soccer, nothing more.
Mr. Martin, we don’t know a whole lot about professional sports, but we do know this: Nobody pays any attention to soccer in America, especially not on Super Bowl Sunday. That dog just won’t hunt.
His “explanation” is especially suspicious given how Martin defended Tracy Morgan’s stab-my-son joke and has praised reparative therapy (which his wife practices).
Oddly enough, Martin also tweeted some uncharacteristic praise to the Queen of the Gays, Madonna, for her halftime show:
“She brought the major props out for this one. Lady Gaga was taking some serious notes”
We agree, Roland, but what did you think of the outfit, though—fierce or too dowdy?
Mike UK
methinks the laddy doth protest to much!
by the way the beckham ad is crap, started on the tv over here last wednesday! it makes him look like he has no arse!!!
Marie Cohn
Next: Roland will contend that gay civil rights are not equivalent to black civil rights. And he is a victim of the gay agenda.
Polyboy
Seems like Martin is gunning for a firing so he can get a spot on Fox News.
Marie Cohn
1030 EST: RM issues an “I am sorry if you” non-apology apology. And it was just about soccer, he says. OK, then: Soccer is for fags, who should get beaten up.
Halston
Who cares! I think everyone is reading too much into it and I think if it had been a non underwear ad with some other athlete no one gay would care what he tweeted. I think we say a lot about ourselves by getting upset over this. And, this should be a lesson to everyone stop tweeting every stupid thought that comes to your mind.
Rock and/or Roll
Ever notice how people who publicly denounce homosexuality never see any kind of backlash? Tracy Morgan is still on prime-time TV (although his show’s ratings are headed for the crapper), and Roland Martin will say “Sorry” for his comments and no one will blink an eye. Yet I would bet that both of these men jumped on the bandwagon to get Don Imus fired when he used the term “nappy-headed hoes.”
Oh dear (John From England 2012)
I have to agree! Beckham is SO overrated. It’s like put it away!
Aiden
People making this about his race in 3…2.. oh, never mind; it’s already begun.
Ashton C
Lets put our money where our mouth is and support the Post office at the same time. Lets flood rolands office with a piece of our minds here:
Roland S. Martin
NuVision Media, Inc.
1327 W Washington Blvd #102B
Chicago, IL 60607
Emails are too easily dismissed, letters, well, these money hungry tools actually have to open the envelops. Im wiping my ass with mine. Fight back.
GOD (gay old dude)
@Ashton C:
Bravo to you, my friend, for having a genuinely inspired idea (as opposed to just bitching about the situation as so many on this site do). My letter is in the mail.
James
@Rock and/or Roll: But Don Imus still has a radio show.
Halston
@Ashton C: Please in all seriousness, can you or someone show me where offense should be taken in his Tweet- because I have read it and re read it and honestly I really can’t see why I should be so up in arms about this to write a letter. Where is the homophobia in the tweet? If a woman said “…smack the ish out of any of your girlfriends who are hyped about Madonna” -would that be homophobic? I just don’t get. If David was gay then maybe, but he isn’t so I can’t see it. And he said “hyped” over the ad not if a dude is “lusting” after David.
David Aventura
If Roland Martin bows to pressure for his twitter comment, I will personally slap him. The Beckham commercial sucked and his body is not my cup of tea. He looked like a skinny twink suffering from a disease. Oh wait, that’s what most of you tired queens like. Still, the ad was a complete waste of $$$. Roland probably said to slap a dude for being interested in the commercial because I seriously doubt that any women found it appealing.
vince
@Halston OmG!! Thank you so much Halston! This gay overreacton has gotten ridiculous. We’ve turned into a bunch of pussies. I saw nothing homophobic about that tweet. And definitely nothing gay-bashing. And I don’t care how feminine you are or are not…stop being sissies and act like men.
tony
@vince:Right on Vince!! Gays have officially become perpetual victims.
LandStander
@Halston: You are misreading what people are taking offense to. In this case, David is not the subject.
He said that you should “smack the ish” out of a man who gets hyped about an underwear commercial featuring men.
How is that not homophobic?
Tackle
I didn’t see ANYTHING homophobic about his tweet. Even after reading it over and over. We need to be very cafeful about who and what we deem homophobic.
We need to think for ourselves. Which some on here have, bravo! But just because some overly sensitive writer hear at Queerty and GLAAD takes offense to a tweet and declares it to be homophobic, dosen’t make it so.
Mabey the writer has some big crush on David Beckham and think he’s the hottest thing since slice bread. And is really offended that not everyone thinks the same.
Seriously writer, would you have thought the same thing if the guy doing the commericial was a gay verision of Danny Devito and the same thing was tweeted about him???
Forreal
I agree. Unless you’re Elle Woods, anyone wearing a ‘head-to-toe’ pink suit should be reprimande–regardless if youre gay, straight, bi, female or male. I don’t think he was that serious about “whooping” their ass. SERIOUSLY, get your panties out of a wad.
lizcivious
I am not a gay man, but I found both Tweets overtly homophobic, with the typical beat-the-dude-up joke about a male showing interest in a men’s underwear ad or wearing the color pink, which actually used to be associated with males many decades ago. The jokes aren’t funny, and they encourage the old “if it’s effeminate, it’s bad and needs to be destroyed” philosophy, which needs to become obsolete ASAP.
KyleW
Storm in a teacup. I agree with him completely, and it’s no wonder straights are sick to death of hearing about the gay agenda when glaad feels the need to weigh in on this total trivia. Haven’t they got some suicidal teens that would benefit more from their time?
Halston
@LandStander: Sorry, don’t see it I think you are really reaching. And I think that if this politically correct/thought police witch hunt keeps up that they (society) will stop taking us seriously. Just like African Americans (and I am black and hispanic) kept screaming racism at every little thing, so now when something is racist no one really blinks an eye about it because the black community has used the race card so much people have become immune to it. And, I think that is exactly what is going to happen to us-plus the table will probably be turned on us and there will probably be some backlash as well. I think its time we start choosing our battles more carefully.
S
“If this were a pro athlete we might expect such ignorance,”
That statement is the most ignorant thing in this article.
Halston
@LandStander: Oh,and this is the quote I read on Queerty: “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl”. So, unless there is more to this tweet than I don’t know, but I don’t see anythin on here that says: “He said that you should “smack the ish” out of a man who gets hyped about an underwear commercial featuring men.” I could tweet that if any guy gets hyped about Mario Lopez’s new underwear line (who’s personality I can’t stand)should be smacked…am I a homophobe?
Timmmeeeyyy
For those of you defending Martin’s tweets, here’s a video of a gay guy getting the ish smacked out of him.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/atlanta-video-beating-765912
No big deal, right?
cwm
aw shit, the guy is noted for wearing an ascot. don’t tell me you’ve never encountered straight guys who *believe* they’re sharp dressers: and therefore think they must spew verbal fag-bashing in all directions at all times, lest someone get the wrong idea? (which is plenty homophobic all by itself, yes.)
transparently, martin’s swinging his head around–looking to snap at anyone–if they might think he looks a bit too lovely in his daddy warbucks drag. and now CNN says they “support his viewpoint.” since when is shouting “let’s beat up on the sissy” something deserving to be dignified with being labelled a point-of-view?
Halston
@Timmmeeeyyy: You are really reaching…but you also prove my point instead of talking about this lame no story story because there is no there there, we could be talking about that horrible video. And, by the way in regards to Martin men talk smack (ish*) I do it as a gay man and I know a whole lot of gay men that talk a bunch of smack-does not mean that they actally mean what they say.
Timmeeeyyy!!!
Here are few other tweets by Martin that day, just as a reference for his frame of mind.
Ladies, if your man don’t like sports, send his azz back to the factory. He came to you defective.
I’m sorry. I’m not down with seeing dudes walking around with bags on their shoulders that resemble women’s handbags.
For all the football hatin’ men, skip the peanuts and grab a bowl of testosterone pills. Man up.
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
He certainly seems to have a problem with effeminate men, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that in his mind effeminate men = gay.
He also praises his minister/counselor wife who he says “has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle.”
Timmeeeyyy!!!
BTW, ish is slang for sh*t, so you can figure out what it means to smack the ish out of someone.
SEXXYJAMAICAN
Chile boo, just boooo. I am not about to gasp my ass into an asthma attack over some tired tweets sent out by a tired umpa lumpa in blackface. I guess I will have many sleepless nights because this Gary Coleman look-a-like is a bigot.
@SEXXYJAMAICAN
please don’t suggest that the black community has a problem with homophobia. we’re not allowed to discuss this because it makes us racists.
the crustybastard
I suspect Roland Martin might be one of those blah people.
LandStander
@Halston: Really? You do not get it?
“If a dude (a male friend)at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad (an ad featuring men in underwear), smack the ish out of him.”
How do you not see that is exactly what I said?
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl”
=
“You should “smack the ish” out of a man who gets hyped about an underwear commercial featuring men.”
Rockery
Well I was thinking the same thing when I saw it.. The butt was nice but when it got to his face he looked like George H W Bush mixed with a treasure troll! EEEEK.
There is nothing in his tweets that is homophobic unless you add your own inferences
KyleW
@LandStander: Sometimes offence is taken not given. I think this is such a case. You take it as you like, personally I take it that he was simply decrying the vanity and superficiality of the entire Beckham brand and persona.
Frank
Humm he looks kind of bottomish….just saying
Chuck
I am trying to remember if there is anyone on CNN who is not totally loathsome. Let’s see, they hired the CNBC b@!ch for 7pm, a conservative from the UK to replace Larry King, every Tea Party nutjob like Dana Loesh is on constantly despite no qualifications whatsoever, closet case Anderson, 2000 presidential campaign loser Donna Brazille, and talking point bully Alex Castellanos given all the airtime he wants anytime.
Conversion of CNN to FoxNews Light complete. MSNBC now beating CNN in every timeslot.
SEXXYJAMAICAN
@@SEXXYJAMAICAN: I’ve only been in the united states ten years so I don’t know the whole black community but where I live they seem to be pretty cool, BUT there are some that are so homophobic that you want to punch them in their face so hard your fist comes out the back of their head. Some gays are racists, just read the comment section on Qweerty. Both the pot and the kettle need to werk it out and get their shit together.
Kev C
If you spent 3 hours watching grown men grab each other’s asses and balls, you’re in no position to call anyone a homosexual.
KyleW
@Kev C: “If you spent 3 hours watching grown men grab each other’s asses and balls, you’re in no position to call anyone a homosexual.”
lololololol! 🙂
Halston
@LandStander: So what you are saying is if the ad was for toothpaste it would have been ok.
Halston
@Timmeeeyyy!!!: Well, I don’t like men with handbags either or ones who walk around in heels, but I guess Queerty must be homophobic too because they never show an effeminate guy in Morning Goods selling sex in heels and a handbag and a pink jumpsuit. And if they did every guy on here would have something negative to say.
Halston
All I really have to say is that you guys really need to be careful with all this sensitivity/PC/thought police talk, because the same expectations you put on others will definitely be used against you by others. And, gays are some of the worst offenders when it comes to women,race,weight,age,social status,religion,and other gays. Anything can have “phobic” tossed on to the end of it.
Tackle
@Halston: Amen to that!!
Halston
I meant to add this in my last post but I hit submit by accident. But, an example of what I am talking about is I don’t know how many times by gays (of every type) refer to a woman as “fish”,”cunt”, or worse “bleeding cunt”. And, not once have I ever heard anybody say anything to them about how that may be offensive to women. Just as I have seen on here the word “nigger” used quiet liberally and most of the time the only ones who ever express any offense are the black homosexuals on the site and the excuse by others is that well he is a homophobe so I can call him a nigger. But if any woman overheard some of the not so pretty things that gays say about them and called them the “F” word all hell would break loose. And I could go on but there really isn’t any use because if you were offended then you were offended. I happen to think the comment was just some lame comment about a celeb and should teach people that we don’t need to know your every thought of the day.
CBRad
I don’t really care what Roland Martin said, but….what a silly peabrain. Anyone who puts so much stock in himself and others by whether or not they like football (a silly game that, in the long run, means nothing. And it makes not the slightest difference which team wins).
Mark
Who cares if it isn’t a directly hateful message towards gay people, the fact is that his tweets and facebook posts create a context of ignorance and heteronormative bigotry that we love so much in America. No one should ever feel like they are less of their chosen gender, or be the target of violence simply because of they chose to wear a color that is perceived as “feminine”
This comment represents an even more negative tain of though that we often don’t touch on, why is “pink”? considered something that a man should be beaten for wearing? Does it make him less of a person in our society to wear a color that society has made obligatory to one gender??
WillBFair
@Halston: The tweet is typical gay bash speak going back decades. I’m surprised you don’t recognize it, although maybe you’re not gay at all but a straight troll sent here by a pr firm.
Add his other comments and his wife’s job, and the evidence is overwhelming that the guy is a homophobe selling his hatred with a sugar coated dog whistle.
And spare me a response. I’m not interested in your crude dodges.
Libertarian Larry
@CBRad: I like you and your comments, CBRad, but I find your statement about football to be a little over-simplified. While some fans go way too far in their obsession with their sport (like soccer), some of us find unity in a good game, regardless of the winner. Sports in general, of course, are pointless, but they can mean the world to certain individuals (and hey, let’s be honest, what is sex other than a sport without clothes?)
Lyn
Since when do people who can actually sing take notes…
BubbasBack
Roland Martin? Is he that woman on the YouTube video “Sitting on the toilet”?
BubbasBack
Oh, I forgot. In Roland’s honor: BURP!
CBRad
@Libertarian Larry: Any sport (from football to pingpong and everything in between) is basically a good thing, and enjoying the technical aspects of it and every strategy and…etc….is fine. Or wanting one individual or team to win over the other is fine, but it should be for good reason. Some people get so freaked out over….who’ll win, the Giants or the Pats? How could one possibly care (unless you have money on it )? It can’t be a tribal-territory-geographic thing, because all the players are from different places. The same with college sports. That’s why I think teams should be divided into religion, ethnicity, race, political affiliation, etc. Then one could really sink his teethy into wanting a team to win, the one that best represents some essence of yourself.
actanonverbanow
IMO, gay white men are, as a group, the most hateful demographic in the country.? They are extra scary for 2 reasons. 1) They shield themselves with this illogical (but effective nonetheless) proposal, “I’m from a victimized group so I can’t possibly be a victimizer myself. 2) Gay white men are white. They have the power and resources to really unleash their hate. What’s worse, white progressive women (another powerful group) don’t keep an eye on them like they do heterosexual white men.
LandStander
@Halston: If the ad was for toothpaste, and Roland had said “If a guy at your Super Bowl party gets hyped about that Crest commercial, smack the ish out of him” it would depend on the commercial. If it was just someone brushing their teeth, his comment would not make sense. If, however, it were a sexy man in his underwear brushing his teeth, then yes, I would consider it a homophobic remark.