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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: profanity

profanity stories: 25 news summaries

1 - 20 of 25 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 SNL's F-Bomb 
 Coulda Been 
 Staged 

The circumstances leading to Jenny Slate's viral video moment are awfully suspicious

Sep 29, 09 8:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - With the Jenny-Slate-says-fucking-on-live-TV clip going viral and making Saturday Night Live nearly relevant again, E! has to wonder—was it staged? It unrolls its best guess at what happened:
  • Sarah Palin bows out of politics, which means no more Tina Fey on SNL.
  • Lorne Michaels realizes he'll
... More »

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Saturday Night Live • entertainment • NBC • profanity • live television • Jenny Slate • SNL

 SNL's Slate Keeps 
 Her Fricking Job 

NBC won't can rookie over nervous slip-up

Sep 28, 09 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - SNL won't drop newbie Jenny Slate over the F-bomb she dropped on her live debut Saturday. NBC tells the Orlando Sentinel's Hal Boedeker that the frickin’ slipup, which viewers were supposed to hear between the lines, is not cause for dismissal. Perhaps Slate can even incorporate the scandal... More »

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Saturday Night Live • entertainment • NBC • profanity • tv premiere • live television • Jenny Slate • SNL


 Fox Anchor 
 Apologizes 
 to Chickens 
 Everywhere 

Ernie Anastos sorry for laying on-air egg

Sep 18, 09 4:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Fox anchor who stirred up a fricassé when he almost suggested a co-worker go pluck a chicken has apologized for his on-air bleep, reports AP. "I misspoke," said veteran New York broadcaster Ernie Anastos. "I apologize for my remarks to anyone who may have been offended.... More »

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television • profanity • obscenity • broadcasting • anchor • chicken • news anchor • Fox TV • Ernie Anastos • weather forecaster

 Serena's Tirade: 
 What Would Her 
 Church Think? 

Jehovah's Witnesses no fans of cursing—but she won't face big trouble

Sep 16, 09 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Serena Williams is a Jehovah’s Witness, which causes Slate to wonder: What does her religion think about her foul-mouthed outburst at the US Open? Jehovah’s Witnesses “discourage members from any sort of foul language on the grounds that it's expressly forbidden in the Bible,” writes Juliet... More »

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religion • tennis • Serena Williams • referee • profanity • cursing • Jehovah's Witness

(Newser) - The heat is apparently getting to Tim Geithner. At a meeting last week with high-level financial regulators, the treasury secretary indulged in a potty-mouthed diatribe about delays in the administration's highly touted plan to overhaul the regulatory system, declaring, "enough is enough," the Wall Street Journal reports.... More »

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Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • SEC • profanity • Treasury Department • FDIC • financial institutions • swearing • Obama administration • Treasury secretary • Sheila Bair • Timothy Geithner • Obama Cabinet • Mary Schapiro • regulator • Securities and Exchange Commission • regulatory body • Neal Wolin

No Sex (After 9), Please—We're the BBC

Survey prompts British channel to cut back on racy content, swearing

Jun 25, 09 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Responding to viewers’ concerns, the BBC will no longer give free rein to potentially offensive material after 9pm, the Telegraph reports. A network survey of 2,700 people age 11 and up found that its audience, especially older viewers, is unhappy with the content. Now, foul language may be subject... More »

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television • BBC • censorship • sex • profanity • Mark Thompson • Britain • swearing

(Newser) - Julia Roberts brought quite the potty mouth to a Tom Hanks tribute in New York yesterday, Us reports. “Alright well, it’s late and I’m paying my babysitter overtime and I have to pee,” the actress said as she took the stage. “So Tom, everybody fucking... More »

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film • Julia Roberts • profanity • Tom Hanks • Lincoln Center • tribute • movie star

ANALYSIS

Supreme Court Backs FCC's Profanity Policy

But justices decline to rule on ban's threat to First Amendment

Apr 28, 09 12:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission may fine broadcasters for even a single utterance of a curse word, Lyle Denniston writes for SCOTUSblog. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the FCC’s recent switch in policy from discouraging “dirty words” to a stringent... More »

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Antonin Scalia • Hollywood • FCC • curse • profanity • US Supreme Court • swearing

Fox News' Smith Loses Cool
Over Torture

Rogue anchor pounds table, drops F-bomb
in angry tirade

Apr 23, 09 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Shep Smith has had it with fellow Fox News anchors justifying torture. When Trace Gallagher suggested that the harsh interrogation techniques may have helped on The Strategy Room last night, the increasingly disgruntled Smith lost it. “We are America!” he bellowed, slapping the desk. “I don’t... More »

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CIA • torture • profanity • Fox News • harsh interrogation • Shepard Smith

Sis: 'Angry Christian
Needs Help'

'He's incredibly stressed'

Feb 8, 09 7:39 AM CST
(Newser) - Christian Bale's sister found his profanity-riddled tantrum on a movie set disturbing, and believes the actor "needs help," reports the Telegraph. "It's terribly sad," said Bale's sister, Sharon. "He seems to be incredibly stressed and angry at the moment." Bale was arrested last year... More »

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stress • profanity • The Dark Knight • Christian Bale • actor • meltdown • temper tantrums


 Bale Sorry 
 for 'Ugly' 
 Outburst 

'I acted like a punk,' actor says of Internet sensation tirade

Feb 6, 09 5:53 PM CST
(Newser) - Christian Bale apologized today for his spectacular explosion on the set of Terminator Salvation, People reports. “I was out of order, beyond belief. I acted like a punk,” the actor said of the expletive-laden outburst that's generating massive traffic online. “It is inexcusable.” Asked about... More »

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Internet • film • profanity • anger • apology • Christian Bale • Terminator Salvation

 Time for Obama to Channel 
 Foul-Mouthed Buddy—Again 

Audiobook snippets are surprisingly timely

Feb 6, 09 2:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Now that things are getting nasty in the stimulus fight, the Boston Phoenix has a suggestion for Barack Obama: Channel your potty-mouthed pal Ray. In the audio version of his autobiography, the Phoenix notes that Obama does an impression of his high school friend, complete with f-bombs, racial slurs, and... More »

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Barack Obama • profanity • Dreams From My Father • audio books

 R-Rated Razz 
 Lands Griffin 
 in Hot Water 

CNN red-faced after off-color reply to heckler goes out live

Jan 3, 09 7:21 AM CST
(Newser) - CNN may not be asking Kathy Griffin to host another New Year's Eve special after her ribald reply to a heckler made its way onto live TV, the New York Post reports. "Screw you!" the comedian, who says she thought she was off-air at the time, yelled at... More »

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profanity • CNN • New Year's Eve • comedian • hecklers • Kathy Griffin

OPINION

 Blago Dialogue 
 Worthy of Mamet 


Dec 10, 08 11:42 AM CST
(Newser) - An astute reader of the criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich will notice that, with shockingly little tweaking, the wiretapped conversations between the Illinois governor and his co-conspirators could be dialogue from a David Mamet play. Choire Sicha demonstrates in Salon, turning it into a quick one-acter. From the trash-talking femme... More »

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Barack Obama • theater • corruption • profanity • play • Illinois • governor • Rod Blagojevich • dialogue • political scandal • David Mamet • Patti Blagojevich

MSNBC Slaps Tape Delay on Scarborough

Parenting groups applaud response to Morning Joe's F-bomb

Nov 12, 08 10:06 AM CST
(Newser) - MSNBC is putting a 7-second muzzle on Joe Scarborough, after the Morning Joe host accidentally uttered the F-word during Monday’s show. Though cable networks are immune from FCC decency rules, MSNBC confirmed that it was instituting the delay to prevent a repeat incident and noted it had done... More »

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FCC • MSNBC • Jane Fonda • profanity • Tiki Barber • Joe Scarborough

OPINION

Scarborough Slips F-Word Into Morning Joe

Host has crusaded against TV profanity

Nov 10, 08 12:15 PM CST
(Newser) - MSNBC host Joe Scarborough dropped what he calls an F-bomb on Morning Joe today, letting the profanity slip when describing Rahm Emanuel's hard-charging style as “flipping people off and screaming F-you at the top of their lungs.” Which might be inconsequential, writes Glenn Greenwald for Salon, except that... More »

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FCC • MSNBC • Janet Jackson • profanity • wardrobe malfunction • Joe Scarborough

 Supremes Won't 
 Air Dirty Laundry 

Court will delay release of tapes of arguments in indecency case

Nov 3, 08 3:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Election Day is likely to inspire swearing in some places and sure to see off-color language in one unlikely locale: the Supreme Court. But the American public will have to wait until next summer to hear tomorrow's oral arguments in a landmark indecency case, FCC vs. Fox, the Justices... More »

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FCC • Bono • profanity • Fox • obscenity • Wyeth • US Supreme Court • C-SPAN • Diana Levine

comment

 Unseemly Word Loses Its Sting 

'Near-dirty' term deserves a trip to the showers

Jun 21, 08 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - The word douchebag is in danger of losing its bite thanks to rampant overuse, writes Richard Dorment in Esquire. It's not that the "toxic mess of a man" population has increased, he observes. It may seem that way, what with reality TV and cable punditry promoting unsavory characters. But... More »

MORE ABOUT:
profanity • obscenity • language • swearing • insult • opinion

Brits Fine Foul-Mouthed MTV Europe

Network pays $485K, promises to tone
down language

Jun 6, 08 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - A UK media watchdog has fined MTV Europe $484,500 for having a potty mouth, Variety reports. The network repeatedly uses “highly offensive language and material” in its videos and shows, often before 9pm, the family-viewing cutoff point. An MTV rep said the firm “takes this sanction and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • music • homophobia • MTV • censorship • racism • profanity

Hacker Adds Bestiality
to Fairy Tale

Dial-in story line's pig-on-dog action surprises Calif. mom

May 26, 08 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - A miscreant hacked into a California library's phone "story line" and recorded an obscenity-laced tale about sex between a pig and a dog. The mother of a 6-year-old quickly realized something was wrong and notified the library, reports the Conta Costa Times. More »

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profanity • fairy tales

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