Breaking: FCC reviewing NBC's Golden Globes telecast

After receiving multiple complaints about NBC's Sunday telecast of the Golden Globes, the FCC said Wednesday that it is reviewing the program for possible violations of indecency rules.

Toward the end of the program, director Darren Aronofsky was caught on camera jokingly making an obscene gesture -- "flipping the bird," as it's commonly called -- at actor Mickey Rourke, who was onstage accepting an acting award for Aronofsky's film "The Wrestler." Rourke and other attendees also salted their speeches with occasional off-color language, some of which was bleeped by NBC censors.

Now the FCC, which regulates decency issues on the broadcast networks, has stepped into the fray. "We received 18 complaints about the Golden Globes telecast," FCC spokeswoman Edie Herman wrote in an e-mail to The Times, "and the commission is reviewing the matter." 

An NBC spokeswoman confirmed that it aired the Aronofsky gesture on the live telecast. "On the West Coast, it went to black for two seconds," the spokeswoman e-mailed. "Beyond that, we have no further comment."

Aronofsky's publicist, Karen Samfilippo, said earlier this week that she had not heard anything from NBC about the matter.

The FCC has a mixed record with decency enforcement. The agency fined CBS $500,000 for airing Janet Jackson's notorious "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl. But a court overturned the fine last year.

-- Scott Collins

 

Comments

[marine43]

Have any of you libtards noticed what movie is #1 right now? Yeah Gran Torino. Know why? Because a substantial portion of America is tired of the P.C. bull crap you and your libtard electeds are pushin! We are tired of the media pandering to the "messiah" etc.... Hopefully enough people will educate themselves to the current climb to socialism.

[NHGranite]

OMG, they showed a finger. No, not a finger!!! I think I have to faint now~

[madisonhack]

Bush and Cheney have lied on television about the deaths of about a million people, countless numbers imprisoned without the benefit of a trial - all spelled out in sanitized speech on television and radio, and the FCC is silent. Dolts like Rush Limbaugh say the most racist and hateful things on the air, and the FCC aren't anywhere around. A little gesture that everyone knows (which means, incidentally, that the term loses it's graphic meaning to the vernacular) and now the sky is falling. Christians - it's no wonder the Romans fed them to the lions.

[Judith]

"It's hysterical that the irrationality of liberals defending their Hollywood role models affects their ability to deviate from this story that the FCC was talking about mutiple complaints about 18 specific and separate violations.
Stop being sheep."

Maybe if you knew what words like "deviate" meant, you could write a literate comment.
Can you define "liberals"?
Your children won't thank you for giving them such a narrow world. If you don't have the talent to make an award-winning movie yourself, perhaps you could show more appreciation for those that do and not be so snide about "Hollywood role models".

[Phuz01]

The U.S. torturing inmates in Guantanamo is obscene. Tens of millions of people living without health insurance is obscene. The wars in the Middle East are obscene. Bernie Madoff is obscene.

This was a finger gesture that harmed nobody. If this is all you have to complain about, you need to step the hell away from the TV and find out what's going on in your world.

[Susan Cooper]

It's great to see that our govt. is spending our precious tax dollars on such threatening matters as the Golden Globe Awards when our economy is in the dumpster, terrorism is threatening our way of life and western civilization as we knew it is about to end. Let's increase taxes so our wonderful govt. has more money to spend!!!!!!

[Michael B]

I think that digit was probably raised in honor of the new digital TV transition, which is going sooooo swimmingly.

[Cliff]

What do you expect from a country that has changed everything it has ever done because of offending the few. Can't say Merry Christmas...there's those that aren't Christian, can't let little Johnny lose a game...everyone's winners, can't spank a little brat who has it coming...he'll be scarred for life, can't profile Muslims...who are all but solely responsible for the REASONS security checks are at the points they're at now, can't let Steve and Bob marry because it will obviously cause physical harm to us straight folk to allow two people of the same sex to have a symbol and paperwork to prove THEIR love to the world, can't show a breast...gasp...that's for nursing only, ad nauseum. Can't we live and let live for a change?

[Bob in Dallas]

Speaking on behalf of The Ram: FU!

[FFA]

"I'm offended every time I see Bush on the TV. If I complain will the FCC stop him from going outside and letting him get on camera?" -jimh

Well, I'm offended by any appearance of Obama on TV. If I get 18 complaints will the FCC stop him from being on camera?

[MJ]

These Hollywood people are despicable and immoral anyway...The obscenity is them.

[tacamojoe]

Rest easy, the FCC investigated this and found out it was really only 6 people who complained 3 times each....and they were all from Chicago and wearing ACORN buttons.

[kathy]

The show was terrible and so was most of the content. Mickey Rourke was probably the best and most honest part, minus the finger flipping. A change is coming, a change is coming and it is now time the working class give it to the elitists in Hollyweird. These are the nuts who will be in Washington next week making a fuss over a half-white fellow who has probably less experience than most of them.........a change is coming, a change is coming. Perhaps the FCC should spend its time investigating the nominee for the Treasury -- our money would be better spent.

[Guy]

How embarassing, can we not put these type of hysterical reactions behind us now?

[bazui]

18 complaints? so that's roughly 80% of the people who actually watched the program, right?

[theONLYtruth]

If it only takes one person to take out school prayer, and one person to take out Christmas decorations in a town and one person to remove a creche from a city, then I guess 18 people is a lot. Liberals are fools and always will be.

[di butler]

HELLO OUT THERE!!!

IT WASN'T 18 PEOPLE THAT COMPLAINED, EVEN THOUGH THAT IS A FUNNY PICTURE, WITH SOME GREAT COMMENTS HERE, IT WAS 18 SEPARATE VIOLATIONS. Sheewww. I feel better, now. I just read through all those comments, some very good, by the way, hoping someone would state the truth, that is wasn't just 18 people. My first thought, was are there this many people with crappy reading comprehension skills?? But, no, it wasn't poor comprehension, but poor writing!! No wonder newsies are going the way of the dodo bird. As for the GG awards, I am surprised myself that more than 18 people watched this train wreck of self love. I think however, they would fare better, if the didn't have 37 different award shows on television, and if they did tone the language down, it is supposedly family viewing time, and some folks prefer their kids don't ask about the guy on tv's balls. As for the View. Why? Why is this harping group of ignorant harpies on? Please feel free to call FCC about that show! The ignorance is worse than a language violation, but they have the language violations, also.

[steve]

Theres lots more entertainment outside of hollyweird - like in the rest of los angeles county!

[jos]

I have a better idea....Quit wasting your time watching crap...get rid of your TV and its corrupting effects and get off your ass and do something productive with your lives rather than watching some self-grandizing idiots making fools of themselves. Life is too short to watch something so negative as these types of shows . Of course I could be wrong, It could be that people like wallowing in stupidity and nonsense.

[Carol]

T.V. isn't so good any more, garbage speech and behaviour. Kids hear filth all day until no one is shocked about violence , unless it happens to them.