Gilbert Gottfried fired by Aflac over Japan tsunami jokes [Poll]

Aflac considers Gilbert Gottfried, for years the voice of its trademark duck, to be "lacking in humor": The company fired Gottfried on Monday in reaction to jokes he'd tweeted making fun of tsunami victims and the situation in Japan following last week's massive earthquake.

"Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac," Michael Zuna, a senior VP and chief marketing officer, said in a statement Monday. "Aflac Japan -- and, by extension, Japan itself -- is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times."

Three-quarters of Aflac's business is in Japan. The company, which says it is Japan's No. 1 insurer based on policies in force, on Friday donated 100 million yen -- a little more than $1.2 million -- to the International Red Cross toward recovery efforts.

On Monday, the magnitude of the March 11 Tohoku quake was upgraded to 9.0 from 8.9, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Maybe it was all funnier to Gottfried before the thousands of bodies began to wash up onshore -- his dozen or so messages (which have since been deleted from the @RealGilbert page, but for a time Monday were still visible online for some users not logged in to Twitter), were sent Saturday and Sunday. We'd repeat his words, because you know the Ministry is pretty much OK with tasteless stuff, but honestly we found a distinct lack of humor in what we read as well. (Not often we find ourselves agreeing with Heidi Montag.)

(Updated, 2 p.m. March 15: For those who've asked in comments, "How can you have a poll if you don't tell us what he said?," click the link on the word "dozen" to see a couple of the jokes. They've been hiding right there in plain sight./cdz)

It's not the first time Gottfried has gotten topical inspiration from tragedy. He sent out a joke about comedian Greg Giraldo's death on Sept. 29, the day Giraldo passed away. That tweet was still posted Monday.

And still not funny.

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Photos: Before and after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Gilbert Gottfried arrives with the Aflac duck at the 14th Annual Webby Awards in New York on June 14, 2010. Credit: Charles Sykes / Associated Press

Comments

[Adam]

Good! It's bad enough Japan's still partially underwater and about to go Chernobyl. Making jokes is like rubbing salt in their wounds.

[eduardo tabar]

its basic observe ethics men, in times like this, tragedy, natural disaster is not a joke men & its not funny at all. think what you can help we don't need you money cause you don not have either just keep your mouth shot

[Courtney]

Ken, first of all, you could easily look up Japan's response to 9/11. Since, however, that disaster is not very similar to this one.. I'll compare it to Katrina instead. Japan donated $200,000 to the Red Cross relief efforts, $1,000,000 in tents, food supplies, etc. and $13,000,000 from private citizens (including one man named Takashi Endo who donated a million dollars from his private funds).

The Japanese helped us when we were in a time of need, and now it's time to repay them.

[Courtney]

Of course he deserved to be fired. He doesn't just work for this company, he represents it. He is in their COMMERCIALS and therefore is part of their face.. what they represent. Add to that the fact that most of their business is done in Japan and they made the obvious choice. The guy was an idiot for saying it and he should take the consequences for his actions. If you're going to joke about a tragedy, you better make damn sure it's very funny.. which his jokes were not. Run of the mill crap that didn't even make me crack a smile at the expense of a nation that is suffering profoundly.. Get a new job, Gilbert, you were never funny.

[Casey]

Freedom of speech should be upheld.

[woof-woof]

Ken, see the Wikipedia article, "International response to Hurricane Katrina."
"The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that it would provide $200,000 to the American Red Cross to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. Japan also identified needs in affected regions via the U.S. government and provided up to $1,000,000 in emergency supplies such as tents, blankets and power generators if they receive requests from the U.S. for such assistance. Private and corporate donations totaled over $13,000,000.[33] One Japanese individual, Takashi Endo, donated USD $1,000,000 from his personal funds to Katrina relief efforts.[15]"

[Nougat]

If he had left it at the "beach" comment, maybe they could have let it slide.
but the second "joke" was uncalled for and disquieting. I think a suspension should be at hand, ala Galliano's upset over at Dior (the situations should be reversed; with Gottfried suspended and Galliano permanently fired for his antisemitic commentary).

[Sherry]

while the japanese wouldn't do this, american is suppose to be free speaking, espcially a comedian

[Sma]

I am all for free speech, but when you are in public light and what you say can reach a lot of people, there is a responsibility with words that you need to accept. Use free speech to form your opinion, the basis of an argument or to converse in an intellectual manner. Use the words to tell stories, jokes and entertain. Don't use it to spread profanity, hate and just plain tasteless jokes. "Comedians" with jokes that are based on someone' misfortune or tragedy...that aren't even funny = fail. He deserves to be fired...why pay the guy for a job (i.e. be funny) that he can't do?

Btw, for those of you who thinks he shouldn't be fired, you need to look at the videos and read the stories of survivors of the tsunami and earthquake. It's so heart wrenching and no joking on this should be even remotely funny.

[Neu]

All of you sick shells of liberal fecal matter should be ashamed of yourselves. Gottfried has a right just like the rest of you to say whatever he pleases. Your over-sensitivity shows weakness and discredits your nation because you seek to destroy the lives of other people because they have opposing views when they are in the right to say it anyways. The Westboro case in supreme court states that no matter how hurtful or insensitive speech is, it is still free.

[D]

His comments weren't as bad as the highly prejudice and racist tweet courtesy of Family Producer Alec Sulkin and yet Gottfried gets fired and Sulkin's still happily employed

[Debbie Lester]

enough with the jokes about japan their getting really out of order now as a friend of mine died out there. R.I.P So Kin Wet

[JL]

Gottfried has made a career out of saying things that are basically funny but no one wants to say. His jokes were silly, not hostile. He's grating, that's the point.

Some people find comfort in humor, you know. Besides which, why do comfortable white people always get offended about things that only effect a group of people that has nothing to do with them?
Either way: You don't have the right not to be offended.

Now Alec Sulkin's comment about Japan. That was idiotic and racist.
And we still don't have the right not to be offended about them.

[jo]

I wonder if Godfrey would have been fired if Japan wasn't three quarters of Aflex's business??? I kind of doubt it.

[Jen Shearer]

Apparently, there were other inappropriate comments so some folks feel he shouldn't have been fired this time. However, perhaps Aflac felt it was one comment/time too many.

[Zombra]

What's interesting to me is: why does anyone even know about this? Who follows Gilbert's Twitter account except his fans? I guess his corporate sponsors do, to keep an eye on their image. And I guess the media does, so they can turn a non-issue into an issue.

How many of the victims of the tsunami, do you suppose, said to themselves, "This is horrible. I've lost my home, my family. My entire life and those of all my loved ones have been destroyed in a matter of hours. I think I'll go inland, find a cyber cafe, and check Gottfried's incredibly irreverent Twitter feed for some dark humor to cheer me up!" ?

Not that you have to be a victim to be offended, but come on. Gilbert has a thing, and if you go to him, you are going to see that thing. Ice cream isn't an appropriate response to tragedy either, but if your spouse gets shot and you run to an ice cream shop for help, you're going to get ice cream. Call the cops and an ambulance instead, you know? Who cares what Gilbert Gottfried thinks at a time like this?

Should Gilbert's jokes be a firing offense? The key word is "should". My answer is a resounding "no". As has been said, the guy's Twitter feed is not AFLAC's property, it's not their reception desk, it's not their 1-800 number. It's Gilbert's freaking Twitter feed. The whole point of Twitter is to post dumb stuff without thinking about it. People posting dumb stuff on it should not surprise anyone, and every tweet doesn't need to say DISCLAIMER: THIS TWEET DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF MY PARENT COMPANY, ITS SHAREHOLDERS, OR SUBSIDIARY ORGANIZATIONS for people to know that. At least, they *should* know that.

Having said that jokes *should* not be a firing offense, the sad reality is that they *are*. Ultimately, I can't blame AFLAC for doing what they did. If I was a coprorate HR stooge, I would have been forced to do the same thing. A corporation needs to protect its image, and it would simply have been bad business to keep him on payroll.

Also, thank you Debbie Lester. Your joke actually got a good laugh. :)

[j patel]

just imagine if it was your friends and family who died in the tsunami- would you take kindly to others making jokes about this. i always say do to others as you would them unto you ( please can we try and be civil) thank you

[Thomas Hooker]

Whatever happened to what Jefferson was supposedly credited with "I may not agree with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it." I've read the jokes, and frankly I'm a Japanophile, and STILL think they're funny. It's not worth canning someone over.

[VOR]

technically, how funny a joke is isnt based on it being sensitive to the plight of others (although such context is sometimes why jokes are called unfunny). But there sorta is this thing called 'too soon'. I dont know if Aflac discussed to mater with Gottfried before firing. I think they should have given him a chance to explain himself and express his sympathies publically, which he may have done anyway, I dont know.

[Mike]

even if he was wrong his work should not be able to fire him for something he posts on his own personal account

[Asa]

I wonder how Aflac will even respond to the recent Tornado Victims, I guess Countrymen In America don't count. If That is so then may Aflac should GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, and go where they have so much Interest!

[Joseph Gonzalez]

I would like to say that if a few years have passed, then he can make the jokes.