Jennifer Aniston has been having a hard time with the media lately. First she was publicly attacked by Bill O’Reilly after promoting single mothers and now she seems to have found herself in hot water once again.
While I totally support the comments Jen made on single parenting, her slip-up on Live with Regis & Kelly was a little disappointing coming from such a respected actress.
During the interview (which can be seen in the video below), Aniston uses the term “retard” while joking with Regis.
Was it appropriate to use that word in an interview? Probably not. Was it a mistake that most of us have likely made at some point in our lives? Yes.
Give the woman a break. A lot of people have said a lot worse and gotten away with it.
If you’re mad at Jen for saying it, you should be mad at Regis and most of the members of the audience who laughed after her comment.
Do you think Jen’s use of the word retard was inappropriate?
Watch the video below:
I understand those who may have been offended by this remark. The old saying should be changed to “sticks and stones may break my bones and words may hurt me,too.” I think the context should always be considered. Would it have been better if she would have said “idiot”? Maybe.
Seriously. not offended. she wasnt literally calling handicapped people a retard, she was calling herself that. many people say that. so get over it media! like you haven’t called yourself that.
You have got to be kidding me?? Since we no longer use the term retard to classify mentally challenged people, it has been adopted more as a slang term for idiot, stupid, or ridiculous behavior. Much like the groups that are claiming offense. Simply retarded !!
I thought now a-days they are called mentally challenged,not retarded..
I thought now a days retarded ment “silly”
Kind of like “Gay” used to mean happy.
Leave Jennifer alone,not you people that leave comments here,you guys are great!
Its just the press once again blowing it out of proportion..
So wait People who are intellectually impaired just have to deal with your right to be an idiot? No! the word retard is wrong. Yet for Some reason we are more accepting to the ignorant and mean then the disabled. Good news is Karmas a bitch. But Karma has been attacking Jen for years now. maybe she should look to see why.
How come the celeb snoops haven’t pointed out yet that John Mayer is part of the whole “ban the r-word” movement?
http://nms.com/blog/post/social-media-for-social-good-ending-the-r-word/
I found Jennifer’s “retard” comment a total lack of class. I don’t care about context! Tell that to all the people with Down’s Syndrome like my sister. They can’t speak up for themselves. It’s time we stop using this hurtful word. Find another one…It’s not about lightening up…it’s about respect and compassion.
Sure, it hurts if someone we love is handicapped, or different in any way, when we hear certain words or phrases. But there are hundreds of other offensive words besides the “r” word yet there are no restrictions on them. And they hurt others equally.
How many of us have said “I didn’t see that sign, I must be going blind!”. Or “I didn’t hear you, I must be going deaf”. We don’t say the “b” word or the “d” word. Do we not care about the blind and deaf?
I used to always use the term “brain dead” when I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say. “I’m so brain dead, I can’t even think straight”. Sometimes even today, it almost slips out from years of habit but I catch myself and for a brief moment I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
My best friend of 30 years passed away New Year’s Day 2008. Life will never be the same without her. And the term “brain dead” will never sound the same. Even if someone uses it in a light hearted way, just as I used to do, it will always hurt to hear it. It will hurt everyone who loved her for the rest of our lives. But even if someone says the words “brain dead idiot”, I know they are not really attacking my dear friend or brain dead people in general or those who have lost someone in that way. I realize they are just being human. And that they would probably never use the term with malice. Yes, it bothers me to hear those words but should I expect the rest of the world to not use the term in any capacity? Should they have to start saying the”bd” word for my sake?
I’m sure at some point we have all used a word that was hurtful to someone else whether we meant to or not. But words are just that…..words. It may be corny but “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is a wise saying because there will ALWAYS be words that hurt us if we choose to let them. I think this is the most important thing we could ever teach ourselves and our children. Because there will always be words that hurt us as long as humans and language exist. And we never know when words will suddenly apply to us when they didn’t before.
We can’t stop the use of every single offensive word and we have to realize that if it isn’t said with malice, we should just let it go. Because when we do not, we just bring more attention to it and we pour salt in our own wounds. And we make others feel bad when they probably never meant to hurt anyone. Where is the good in that?
When we make a big deal out of certain words, such as the “r” word, we are saying there IS something wrong with not just the word, but the condition. The very thing that we are doing to supposedly make others feel better only makes matters worse. We are bringing more attention to it….and that is the last thing that ANYBODY who is different really wants anyway.
I wish all the words that caused hurt could go away. I wish all the hurt in this world could go away. But that will never happen and we can’t change the world. But we can change how we react to it. We all say words that are hurtful to someone…somewhere. We need to realize that the words that hurt us are no greater than the words that hurt others.
Until the rest of the world starts saying the “bd”word….I will not be saying the “r” word for retarded. Because I am a strong believer in fairness and equality and that just plain old isn’t fair. And I would never use the word with malice. I do not wish to cause hurt to others….but my hurt and the hurt of the people I care about is just as important as the hurt of anyone else.
Jennifer aniston retard remark on regis kelly watch.. Reposted it
hi – is it just me !! can any one explain why when i type in the bing browser “www.manolith.com” i get a different site yet whe i type it in google its ok? could this be a bug in my system or is any one else having same probs ?
sadensy