Griffin Blown Off for N-Bomb
Maybe Eddie Griffin should've consulted with Conspiracy Brother before this gig.
The African-American funnyman was given the heave-ho from a Black Enterprise magazine soiree in Miami after repeatedly dropping the N-bomb during a stand-up routine, organizers confirmed Thursday.
Griffin—the former star of TV's Malcolm and Eddie and such big-screen comedies as Date Movie, Scary Movie 3 and Undercover Brother—was the headline performer at Black Enterprise's 14th Annual Gold & Tennis Challenge last Friday in the suburb of Doral.
The 39-year-old had launched into one of his trademark profanity-laced performances before quipping, "Why are some black leaders telling us to stop using the N-word?" He then let loose a barrage of the epithet, and officials for the publication pulled the plug.
"We believe that ending the performance was the appropriate action," said Andrew Wadlum, a spokesman for the magazine.
According to a statement posted on the Website of the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network, it was Black Enterprise's publisher and founder, Earl Graves, who made the call to give the hook to Griffin. Graves walked out on stage after the comic was booted to explain to those in attendance exactly why the entertainer wouldn't be returning.
"We at Black Enterprise will not allow our culture to go backwards," Graves said. "Black Enterprise stands for decency, black culture and dignity and we will pay Mr. Griffin all that we owe him but we will not allow him to finish the show if that's the way he's going to talk."
Graves got a standing ovation, per the statement.
The New York Daily News reports that Griffin tried to have the last laugh and yelled "f--- y'all" at the audience on his way off the stage.
Griffin's publicist, Jeff Abraham, was unavailable for comment Thursday.
Sharpton, who has called on African Americans, including rappers and comics, to stop using the epithet, praised Graves and "expressed gratitude that the nation's pre-eminent magazine for African-Americans stands behind the efforts of National Action Network in getting rid of the N-word."
Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson have been spearheading the movement, which gained traction after Michael Richards' racial outburst in Los Angeles last year. At its July gathering in Detroit, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People even held a mock funeral for the word.
Hundreds of protesters affiliated with the National Action Network's Decency Initiative held rallies in several cities last month calling for recording industry to boycott artists that use such words as "nigga," "bitch" and "ho."
While several artists have been reluctant to endorse the plan, saying it's a free-speech issue, a few top-tier performers are on board.
On Tuesday, New Orleans-based rapper Master P and his son, Romeo, released their collaborative album, Hip-Hop History, which is free of the N-word and other offensive lyrics. The two also appeared on Sharpton's nationally syndicated radio show to talk about the project and urged fellow entertainers to clean up their acts.
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