It took three days, but CNN has succumbed to pressure and suspended commentator Roland Martin after his arguably homophobic Super Bowl tweets about David Beckham's H&M ad. Somehow we don't think this spat is over just yet?
As you'll recall, on Super Bowl sunday H&M ran an ad featuring lots of closeup's of Beckham's body. Like so:
Martin instantaneously responded on Twitter in a tweet that GLAAD and others found offensive. Like so:
And though Roland continued to say it was a misunderstanding and that he just likes to mock soccer players—not to mention that "Based on several tweets I made on my Twitter feed on Super Bowl Sunday yesterday, I have been accused by members of the LGBT community of being supportive of violence against gays and lesbians and bullying. That is furthest from the truth, and I sincerely regret any offense my words have caused."—it doesn't seem to have been enough for CNN (at least for the time being). In a statement the company today said:
Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.
So far, Martin has yet to comment
on the latest development. But he will. That's what commentators do!
