To begin Thursday’s edition of HLN’s Unfiltered, host S.E. Cupp walked her viewers through how the liberal media’s double standard for punishing vile comments works. Between Roseanne Barr, Keith Olbermann, Joy Reid, and now Samantha Bee, there were a plethora of examples for her to choose from.
But her most stern and forceful condemnation was reserved for ESPN and parent company Disney for rehiring Olbermann despite his membership in what she called the “misogynists’ club.”
After tearing into Bee for her despicable smear of Ivanka Trump as a “feckless c**t” and putting her in the same “club” as Olbermann, Cupp glared at the camera as she turned her attention to Disney. “Speaking of Keith Olbermann, that has-been was just re-hired by Disney-owned ESPN for the sixth time,” she prefaced.
“Yes, the same Disney that just fired Roseanne. He has a well-documented history of misogyny and degrading attacks on women,” Cupp continued as she detailed some of his past sexist attacks against herself and some of her fellow conservative women:
Just a few examples: he referred to Michelle Malkin as a quote, “big mashed up piece of meat with lipstick on it.” And said of Ann Coulter, “if this guy wants to back his life as a woman, I'm going to pack his choice up 100 percent.” And of course, he said of me once, “she's a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does.”
Upon finishing her review of Olbermann’s notorious past, the gloves came off as she lambasted the multi-media giant, “It's a great look for you, Disney. Way to say to all of your female viewers, ‘Up yours!’”
Despite how others like Cupp and the White House have called out Disney for their disgusting hypocrisy and blatant political double standard, they and their other owned properties like ABC News have remained silent on Olbermann. And ABC still hasn’t given a good excuse for why they hired Roseanne, the “conspiratorial-bigoted-nut job in the first place.”
In fact, during Thursday’s World News Tonight, ABC anchor David Muir appeared to play dumb about his organization’s role in rotting discourse in America. “We're going to turn next tonight to late night comedian Samantha Bee, who is apologizing tonight after using vulgar words to describe Ivanka Trump,” he announced. “It comes just days after Roseanne’s racist tweet, her show canceled. And all of it likely leaving many of you at home to wonder, what happened to civility in America?”
Cupp also took shots at NBC for refusing to address the torrent of negative revelations regarding on-air talent Joy Reid’s past bigoted and conspiratorial comments. Last month we learned she dealt in homophobic blog posts and this week we discovered she pushed 9/11 conspiracy theories along with sharing a picture of Senator John McCain’s head on the body of the Virginia Tech shooter.
“Here’s the deal. I predict today, Sam Bee, Keith Olbermann, Joy Reid stay right where they are. Why? Because liberals generally get immunity. It’s that simple,” Cupp declared.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
HLN's S.E. Cupp Unfiltered
May 31, 2018
5:00:29 PM EasternS.E. CUPP: Welcome to Unfiltered. Here's tonight's headline. Roseanne's canceled. Okay, who's next? The foul-mouthed and conspiratorial blurting is apparently contagious. Since Roseanne was canceled for her Twitter tirades against Valerie Jarrett, Chelsea Clinton, and George Soros, others have decided to tell Roseanne, “here, hold my beer.” Case in point, Sam bee, comedian and host of TBS’s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Full disclosure, Time Warner is the parent company of both TBS and HLN. During an expletive-laden monologue on last night's show, Bee had this to say about Ivanka Trump.
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CUPP: In case you can't read lips, she called Ivanka the c-word, like the worst word you can use on television to describe a woman. But it's okay, because she couched it by saying she's a mother. Way to obscure a valid political point by devolving into gross and lazy ad hominem. And also, welcome to the misogynists’ club. It's you and Keith Olbermann, congratulations.
To her credit, Bee did offer up a mea culpa, tweeting this afternoon, “I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line and I deeply regret it.” TBS also issued a statement apologizing for their role in the segment, saying in part, “those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake, too, and we regret it.”
Speaking of Keith Olbermann, that has-been was just re-hired by Disney-owned ESPN for the sixth time. Yes, the same Disney that just fired Roseanne. He has a well-documented history of misogyny and degrading attacks on women. Just a few examples: he referred to Michelle Malkin as a quote, “big mashed up piece of meat with lipstick on it.” And said of Ann Coulter, “if this guy wants to back his life as a woman, I'm going to pack his choice up 100 percent.” And of course, he said of me once, “she's a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does.”
It's a great look for you, Disney. Way to say to all of your female viewers, "Up yours." One of Olbermann's many former employers, MSNBC, I guess, actually, that counts of two of his former employers, has a slightly different problem on its hands.
Host joy Reid is under scrutiny for a few issues. Just today Buzzfeed reported that she published an image of Senator John McCain's head photoshopped onto the body of Virginia Tech shooter, Sung Wee Chao in 2007 on her controversial, now defunct blog. This after it was revealed she once raised conspiracy theories about September 11th on that blog. Going so far as to promote an Alex Jones produced film that suggested 9/11 was an inside job.
Last month, Reid came under fire for homophobic comments she allegedly made on that same blog. After initially claiming she'd been hacked and calling on the FBI to investigate, later she sort of admitted she might have written those things. We're still unsure. And NBC doesn't seem to mind that. Now, that follows the initial discovery of assorted offensive posts which she did admit to writing. Got all that? Sounds like she has an Ambien problem.
Here’s the deal. I predict today, Sam Bee, Keith Olbermann, Joy Reid stay right where they are. Why? Because liberals generally get immunity. It’s that simple. Look, this is not whataboutism. I made no excuses for Roseanne. I said ABC was absolutely right to fire her and to cancel her show. I also said they were wrong to hire a conspiratorial-bigoted-nut job in the first place. But you can't say, with a straight face, that there isn't a double standard when it comes to offensive speech on the left and the right.
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ABC's World News Tonight
May 31, 2018
6:41:52 PM EasternDAVID MUIR: We're going to turn next tonight to late night comedian Samantha Bee, who is apologizing tonight after using vulgar words to describe Ivanka Trump. It comes just days after Roseanne’s racist tweet, her show canceled. And all of it likely leaving many of you at home to wonder, what happened to civility in America?
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MATT GUTMAN: This latest attack on civility follows multiple tweets by Roseanne Barr over the last couple of days, comparing a former President Obama adviser to characters from Planet of the Apes.
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