Grunberg Apologizes for Chaz Bono Tweets
December 10, 2009
Thanks to everyone that tweeted Heroes star Greg Grunberg asking for an apology for the tweets he made about Chaz Bono, the actor took to his Twitter account again yesterday to apologize.
The day after Rebecca Juro of The Bilerico Project cited Grunberg for his disrespectful comments, he offered this an apology:
“And I apologize if I offended ANYONE. Now, back to fart jokes and Yowza!!”
Yesterday after GLAAD’s blog post asking allies and friends to tweet Grunberg for a direct apology to Chaz and the trans community he tweeted this:
Juro who broke the story on Grunberg’s tweets, wrote a letter making an appeal for more responsible messaging from Grunberg saying:
Grunny, when you make jokes about Chaz Bono, even though your intent is to joke about his weight, that’s not what a lot of people are going to take from it. Mixing gender pronouns in reference to a transgender person as you did in one of your tweets is considered deeply offensive in our community, disparaging to Chaz’s gender identity, and by extension to the rest of us as well. I know you don’t see it that way, but that’s how I feel, and it’s how many other transgender people and allies feel as well.
Again thank you to all that tweeted and to Grunberg who will hopefully think twice before making comments about someone’s gender identity.
Related Posts:Heroes Star Greg Grunberg Offends Transgender Community on Twitter
December 9, 2009
Heroes star Greg Grunberg recently made took to his Twitter account (@greggrunberg) to make some unfunny and offensive jokes about Chaz Bono, Cher and Sonny Bono’s son who recently came out as transgender.
Grunberg tweeted the following about Chaz:
When called out on these tweets by The Bilerico Project’s Rebecca Juro, Grunberg responded, claiming that his tweets had nothing to do with Chaz’s gender identity, saying:
My comments about Chaz Bono letting himself go had NOTHING to do with the transgender issue. NOTHING. Chaz is overweight as am I and people have jokingly told me that we look alike. I was merely poking fun at that notion. I hope you realize I meant nobody any harm. Lighten up and take good care.- Grunny
We find it difficult to believe Grunberg’s claims that his comments about Chaz Bono had nothing to do with “the transgender issue” when he very clearly used both male and female pronouns in his first tweet. The deliberate use of both pronouns shows more than simply a lack of understanding of gender identity issues and we call on Grunberg to apologize to Chaz and the transgender community for making such insensitive comments on his Twitter account.
If you are on Twitter, please tweet this statement: “@greggrunberg – You owe Chaz Bono and the transgender community an apology.”
While he claims they off-handed comments with no malicious intentions, it is nevertheless important to educate Mr. Grunberg about the harmful effects such comments can have on transgender acceptance.
Related Posts:Chaz Bono Two-Part Interview with ET Begins Airing Tonight
October 29, 2009
Chaz Bono, the son of Cher and Sonny Bono, will sit down tonight with Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart for his first on-camera interview since publicly announcing he would be transitioning from female to male.
Chaz Bono's two-part interview with Entertainment Tonight begins airing tonight. Check local listings.
Via People.com comes this quote from the interview:
“Still not anywhere near what I will look like, but really for the first time I am feeling much more comfortable with how I look physically,” he says. “The most important thing about this for me is that my outsides are finally starting to match my insides,” Chaz tells ET. “I feel like I’m living in my body for the first time, and it feels really good.”
TMZ reported last month that Chaz had signed a deal with publisher Dutton to have his memoir, “Coming Clean,” released in Spring 2011.
Check your local listings to catch part one of the ET interview tonight. Part two airs tomorrow. In the meantime, you can catch a preview that was posted yesterday on the ET website.
Related Posts:Chaz Bono Comes Out as Transgender
June 11, 2009
Chaz Bono (formerly Chastity Bono), the child of singers Sonny and Cher and former Director of Entertainment Media at GLAAD, announced today that he has made the decision to transition from female to male.
Chaz Bono
TMZ broke the news earlier today with a statement released through publicist Howard Bragman:
“He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his ‘coming out’ did nearly 20 years ago.
We ask that the media respect Chaz’s privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time.”
Following the news, GLAAD President Neil Giuliano released this statement:
“Chaz Bono’s decision to live his life authentically represents an important step forward, both for him personally and for all who are committed to advancing discussions about fairness and equality for transgender people,” said Neil G. Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). “Coming out as transgender is an extremely personal decision and one that is never made lightly. We look forward to hearing Chaz’s story in his own words in the future.”
“GLAAD encourages media outlets to cover this story accurately, and to avoid speculation about the details of Chaz’s story before he is ready to share them.”
