Seth MacFarlane Defends Oscar Nominations Routine, Hitler Joke

Funnyman addresses the matter of his controversial Hitler wisecrack during yesterday's Oscar noms unveiling

By Josh Grossberg Jan 11, 2013 3:09 PMTags

If anyone has a problem with Seth MacFarlane dropping a Hitler joke during Thursday morning's Oscar nominations announcement, they've probably never seen Family Guy.

The wisecrack in question by the Academy Awards host regarded Amour's nod in the Best Foreign Film category and went like this: "The last time Austria and Germany coproduced something, it was Hitler."

Alas, after catching heat online despite what was a pretty hilarious routine, MacFarlane took to Twitter where he sorta hit back at his critics.

He tweeted last night: "Lotta flap over that Adolf joke. Look, Amour was a great film, so how about this: Austria, we'll give you the Oscar if you take back Arnold."

As in Arnold Schwarzenegger, natch.

No word what the Academy had to say about his quip or whether it'll serve as a preview for what viewers can expect at the Feb. 24 ceremony.

By the way, the 39-year-old MacFarlane is not only emceeing Hollywood's Biggest Night, but he's also a contender after being a surprise nominee in the Best Original Song category for "Everybody Needs a Friend" from his summer hit, Ted.