The Sutton Family was on its way to sweeping the “Something That Everybody Knows About Ellen DeGeneres” category on Family Feud. Until it was Papa Mike Sutton’s turn, and he turned in the most hilarious(ly offensive) answer ever.
At least he didn’t say she hates puppies?
Taylor Siluwé
I don’t know what that was about.
fredo777
I could just hear the homophobia dripping from that answer.
What a fucking idiot.
hephaestion
Wow! That man has listened to way too much Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh. Pathetic!
Ellen’s response was incredibly classy. I would have called the man a bloody fascist.
Michael David
epitome of an american idiot, that man is.
ChrisM
That question just seemed made for the gay answer.
Anyway, I’m sure the reason the dad thought she hated America was because she’s a lesbian. Because gays wanting equal marriage rights means we hate America.
I don’t hate America, I hate people who are so threatened by change that they won’t even spare a little empathy for another human being.
jeffree
Maybe the guy should be looking for a home in Itawamba Mississippi? He’d fit right in !
FrancoisTrueFaux
Not only is she super classy in the way she handled the situation, she allowed people to think about it for themselves and truly acknowledge how off-base Papa Mike Sutton was. Allowing people to come to the right conclusion on there own is immensely more powerful psychologically than reiterating that point, no matter how correct it is.
jamison
inappropriate as it might be, this random daddy tea bagger came off as very amusing to me.
made for a good laugh and i love ellen’s reaction.
Chandler in Las Vegas
And you could tell in his voice what he really meant to say was “that liberal Lezbinazi campaigning for the overthrow of MY traditional family values HATES MURRIKA!” Everybody felt THAT.
Ricky
going out on a limb here… a thin one to be exact… is there any possibility that his answer was intended in a different way? I mean, judging from how the rest of the family answered, it seems plausible that he may not have negative feelings towards her. Perhaps “she doesn’t like her country very much” because she is a lesbian and in many ways, treated as a second class citizen. Perhaps he didn’t mean it in the way many are assuming because, truth is, none of us were in his head at that very moment.
I am torn. Part of me thinks he meant something negative but another part of me believes that he was feeding off all the other answers and tried to make a supportive political statement that kinda-sorta failed. I don’t think he meant that she doesn’t like this country because she’s gay and wants to get married and that is hijaking the conservatisim of the nation so much as that she’s gay and unable to legally marry in this nation (most of it, anyway) and that it is unfair and why she has negative feelings for this country (though she doesn’t).
We’ll never know. Until we hear it from him. Until then, I intend to give him the bennefit of the doubt.
jamison
@Ricky: its possible that he might have been mocking a perceived opinion people might have about ellen, rather than dishing out his own.
after all the point is to figure out what other people said.
christopher di spirito
The father sounds like a typical, Bush-loving, southern redneck who gets his news and information from Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Now, who hates our country?
merkin
@Ricky: C’mon, thats a SERIOUS stretch. We all know what he meant by that comment.
I just think its great how the rest of the Sutton family seemed pretty cool, giving the obvious answers about Portia, etc without cringing or making stupid comments. I know thats not much, but given how much of a douche dad is, its something. I just wanna know what that conversation in the elevator was like, knowing dad almost cost them the jackpot.
PS: I think the girls should take the money and go to paris and tell Dad to go &*%@ himself.
Ricky
Jamison, excellent point.
Ricky
Merkin, WE ALL do not. I’m sorry, but the more I play it back and watch his facial gestures, the more I find myself thinking that there was no real harm intended in the answer. Sure, it seemed like a WTF moment. But I am not going to jump on the Victim band-wagon just yet. It may be a stretch to you, but please do not lump me in with how you see things in the world.
I may be niave in feeling so, but I am more of a “glass half full” kind of guy and until I hear that he meant it as a personal jab to Ellen and gays, I’m inclined to think that there was no foul intended.
Taylor Siluwé
No. 15 · Ricky
I have to agree with you. That’s why my initial response was confusion. I saw no animus in his face when he said, but it was a serious WTF moment. I was at a lose to explain it. Then I wondered if he meant that she was gay in a sometimes rabidly anti-gay country.
None of this could have possibly been laid out in the context of Family Feud.
So yeah, lets all take the high-road as Ellen did, and assume he meant no harm.
KyleR
Well if you watch the family, the women are super slow to start clapping and then their only really half-heartldy do it. Especially the last girl and the other young one. The crowd on the other hand. Just started up even before the last word was out of that crazy’s mouth.
ChicagoJimmy
Well, Ellen invited them to be on her show. If the guy is a total douche, they’ll never show up. However, if he meant that she’s upset with the country because she doesn’t have equal rights and his wording just came out wrong, we’ll see the whole family on Ellen where they’ll explain it all.
I’ve certainly put my foot in my mouth enough times to know how much I’d love another opportunity to explain myself. Well, here’s his opportunity and another chance to get on national TV. Will he take it?
fredo777
@Ricky: Sorry, but it was all in the tone. I think you’re giving him entirely too much credit on this one.
Rando
This makes me love Ellen even more than what I formerly thought possible as a gay man.
Speedsausage
My first thought was “Where the fuck did that come from?”
Then it dawned on me, perhaps he got his lesbian, comedienne, talk show hosts mixed up. I don’t believe anyone thinks Ellen hates her country, but there’s a whole bunch who think Rosie O’Donnell does.
Tom
I think the guy is the southern-most point of an alimentary canal.
PADude
@Tom: Mississippi?
Ellen is one classy lady.
tjr101
@Ricky:
Very good hearted of you to give him the benefit of the doubt.
For me, all I heard was the common refrain you hear from conservatives about who “loves” their country and who is “patriotic” and who are “real” Americans, (Sarah Palin would know this).
McShane
Blind Nationalism is only one of the features of the landscape that should give evertyone reason to fear. Who cares what she said even if she did: that’s her right.