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Tracy Morgan: Book Opened 'Old Wounds'

Comedian talks 30 Rock, SNL, his memoir, and the first family

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 15, 2009 2:51 PM CDT

(Newser) – Tracy Morgan wrote his upcoming memoir I Am the New Black “because they gave me a big bag of money,” he says, adding that it took him two years to complete because“it was a lot of old wounds reopened,” he tells Time. “It was a lot of me going back to my father, my mother, what we had to go through living and growing up in the projects.”

Morgan also discusses how “staying funny” helped him through his struggle with alcoholism—he’s been sober a year and a half—and, of course, waxes humorous on the Obamas. Of the president’s Nobel, he says, “I wish he would just punch somebody in the face. You can’t finesse a bull, man.” And of the first lady? “Michelle knows. We had something going on back in the day. One of them little girls is biologically mine.”

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this March 27, 2008, file photo, actor Tracy Morgan poses on the press line at the premiere of the feature film "Superhero Movie" in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, file)

Actor Tracy Morgan hosts the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors show, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

This 2006 photo, provided by NBC TV, shows the stars of the network's hit comedy series "30 Rock." (AP Photo/NBC Universal, Mitchell Haaseth-File)

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A clip from '30 Rock.' (hulu.com)

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I'm a 40-year-old black man. I'm from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. What do the young white writers know about me? I have to give 'em the ammo. - Tracy Morgan

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Tracy Morgan: Book Opened 'Old Wounds'