5154: Say What?

Offensive remarks in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Will Smith wound up suing and beating an entertainment newswire service in London for creating the drama surrounding remarks the star made in reference to Adolf Hitler. The newswire service apologized and paid an undisclosed amount of money to be donated to a charity. After the mess originally broke, the newswire service had retracted the story and issued a correction and apology; however, Smith’s lawyer argued no one picked up the responses. A lawyer for the newswire service said, “[The newswire service] offers its apologies to [Smith] for any distress and embarrassment caused by this article. [It] accepts that the allegations concerning [him] were misleading and published in error.” Maybe Smith was actually discussing Hitch, not Hitler.

• IKEA is taking heat from Denmark, as officials are accusing the furniture company of naming products of lesser value with Danish titles. “It seems to be an example of cultural imperialism,” noted a Danish scholar. “IKEA has chosen the objects with the lowest value and given them Danish names.” IKEA officials are probably tossing Denmark’s complaints into a cheap Danish waste bucket.

• Lowe’s is pulling its advertising from CBS reality series Big Brother after a contestant referred to people with autism as “retards.” CBS issued the stereotypical disclaimer that read, “Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 -- and seeing every moment of their lives. At times, the Houseguests reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone. Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a Houseguest appearing on Big Brother, either on any live feed from the House or the broadcast, are those of the individual(s) speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program.” Now that’s a pretty retarded response.