Not everyone was laughing last night at the iHeart Radio Music Awards when host Jamie Foxx started making some very inappropriate jokes about ex-Olympian Bruce Jenner’s transition.
During Foxx’s opening monologue, he started to talk about Jenner making the following statement.
“We have some groundbreaking performances here, too, tonight. We got Bruce Jenner, who will be here doing some musical performances. He’s doing a his-and-her duet all by himself.”
“Look,” Foxx added. “I’m just busting your balls while I still can.”
After Foxx got the words out of his mouth, there was an immediate reaction, but not the one Foxx was probably hoping for. Some of the celebrities in the audience looked very uncomfortable, and the viewers at home immediately took to social media to blast Foxx, and iHeart Radio, for allowing such comments to be made into jokes. It appears by the reaction that not many people thought Foxx was being very funny.
According to CNN viewers were so offended by Foxx’s remarks that seemed to attack people who were struggling with sexual identity, they took to Twitter with the hashtag #iHeartAwards to express their disgust.
“Jamie Foxx just made a terrible, disgusting joke about Bruce Jenner’s rumored transition on this trash awards show,” tweeted @laurennostro.
“Seriously #JamieFoxx? #BruceJenner jokes?” wrote @AngelaPquigley. “You’re disgusting, that’s not ok. It wasn’t funny, just mean spirited and lazy.”
Boo! Shame on you #iHeartAwards for allowing @iamjamiefoxx to be transphobic on national television! Those #BruceJenner jokes were wrong!!! celebrity @PerezHilton writes.
Jenner has not yet spoken publicly about his decision to transition to a woman, but the New York Daily News reports that the issue will be addressed on this season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
During Foxx’s monologue, he also made jokes about the “Blurred Lines” lawsuit over copyright that singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had been involved in with legendary singer Marvin Gaye’s family.
“Marvin Gaye had the number one song, featuring Pharrell (Williams) and Robin Thicke,” and then Foxx delivered the punch line.
“Marvin Gaye just made $7.4 million just last week. He’s making beats in heaven. It’s crazy,” he joked. “He might be dead, but he ain’t dead broke.”
Foxx also got big laughs when he joked about Death Row founder Suge Knight, who was charged with murder after he allegedly ran a man over with his truck, and then drove away before reporting it to the police.
“He will not be here tonight,” Foxx said of Knight. “He founded Tha Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and now he needs a seeing-eye dog.”
It would seem that Foxx knows how to get laughs out of people, but he probably needs to think twice before he starts attacking peoples’ sexual identities. Comedians do have a tendency to make all kinds of offensive remarks towards a variety of people, but the public definitely had an opinion when Foxx decided to attack people who were in the transitioning phase of their sexuality.
[Photo courtesy of Anthony Harvey/Getty Images]