PBS Nips Cheeky Tina Fey Speech

But only because ceremony ran long, producer insists
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2010 8:33 AM CST
Tina Fey's Controversial Kennedy Center Remarks Edited by PBS on Mark Twain Prize Broadcast
Tina Fey makes remarks after being awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010.   (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Tina Fey thanked Sarah Palin last week when she won the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor—but that's not all she said. When PBS broadcast the ceremony Sunday night, some of Fey's more controversial remarks were cut out. Most notably: "And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women ... unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years—whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know, actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster."

But viewers only heard her less controversial comments, like taking responsibility for the Sarah Palin phenomenon and adding, "My partial resemblance and her crazy voice are the two luckiest things that ever happened to me," the Washington Post notes. Even so, an executive producer insists the deletion "was not a political decision," and PBS "had zero problems with anything she said." The 90-minute show simply ran 19 minutes too long, and the producers "snipped from everyone." Watch the unedited video here.
(More Tina Fey stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X