Sarah Silverman's "Retarded" Routine Backfires

Jokes go awry at TED conference, where the comic served as keynote speaker

By Brandi Fowler Feb 16, 2010 1:00 AMTags
Sarah Silverman Video Music AwardsJohn Shearer/WireImage.com

Someone thought choosing Sarah Silverman as the TED conference keynote speaker would be a good time for all.

That someone thought wrong.

The technology, education and design confab invited the comedian to speak at its annual event and got more than it bargained for, including a routine about adoption in which she repeatedly used the word "retarded"—presumably in response to Sarah Palin's recent attempts to ban the word.

Or perhaps because Silverman's the kind of comedian who says things like that.

In any case, once she'd exhausted that topic, the outlandish jokester started singing a song about penises...

TED organizer and journalist Chris Anderson responded on Twitter saying, "I know I shouldn't say this about my own speakers, but I thought Sarah Silverman was god-awful."

He wasn't the only one.

Shortly after, AOL cofounder Steve Case jumped on the Silverman-bashing bandwagon, tweeting "the sad thing is you're not that funny" to her after she zinged him by twittering, "You should be nicer to the last person on earth w an AOL account."

Silverman also lashed back at Anderson with the following nugget: "Kudos to @TEDChris for making TED an unsafe haven for all! You're a barnacle of mediocrity on Bill Gates' a--hole."

In Silverman's defense, however, several event attendees tweeted that she "killed it" at her performance...in a good way.

Either way, we're betting TED will go with a safer choice next year.

John Mayer can probably kiss that opportunity goodbye.

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Everybody makes mistakes...but some celebrities make huge blunders. Take a look at which ones made our "What a Douche!" gallery.