NBC To Donald Trump: You're Fired

Donald Trump just got fired by NBC.

NBC is ending its business relationship with Donald Trump following the presidential hopeful’s comments about immigrants during the announcement of his campaign. "At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump," NBC said in a statement. NBC said it would no longer air the annual "Miss USA" and "Miss Universe" pageants, which had been a joint venture with Trump. Trump has already indicated he will not be taking part in the television show "The Apprentice."

TENNESSEE: Chattanooga NBC Affiiliate Refuses To Air Freedom To Marry Ad

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed:

“It’s just a very controversial and personal issue, and we just choose to not air a commercial on either side of that debate,” Tom Tolar, the president and general manager of Chatanooga-based WRCB, told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview. The ad crossed the station’s lines, he explained, because “people probably have really strong opinions on one side or other of the debate. It’s just an emotional debate for many people.” The station, an NBC affiliate that also broadcasts in parts of Georgia and North Carolina, didn’t have a position on ads about same-sex marriage until executives reviewed the commercial featuring Ehrenfeld on Wednesday, said Tolar. “We had not had a request before to run an issue-ad like that.”

Freedom To Marry says that no other station in the country has ever refused their ads, which have also appeared in Memphis and Nashville.

Comcast Replaces G.E. Sign On 30 Rock

A friend of mine took this photo today from his office across from 30 Rock. If you look closely you'll see the nearly-installed Comcast name. Last June the New York Times reported on the sign change:

Comcast, which last year bought General Electric’s remaining 49 percent stake in NBCUniversal, applied for a “certificate of appropriateness” from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to replace G.E.’s 24-foot-high initials on 30 Rockefeller Plaza. G.E., now based in Fairfield, Conn., has long had a presence in New York. Whether another name change will be embraced by the public is arguable. It’s been a quarter-century since the two glowing red letters were installed, yet many New Yorkers still refer to it as the RCA Building, after the company that founded the NBC network. The RCA name had capped the 70-story Manhattan landmark, which at 850 feet amounts to the city’s tallest billboard (the MetLife Building is considered second), for more than 50 years. When the original letters were first illuminated in 1937, they were hailed as the loftiest neon sign on the planet.

One Million Moms Vs One Big Happy

Just in via email:

NBC has launched another program attempting to redefine what makes a family. "One Big Happy" is described as a show about best friends Lizzy and Luke who are like family. As kids, they saw each other's parents go through divorce and have ever since formed an inseparable bond. Now, all grown up and still single, they've decided to start a family of their own, but in a non-traditional way. Lizzy, who is a lesbian, wants to raise a child with Luke by her side. Then one night, Luke falls for Prudence, a free-spirited British girl who's due to go back to England in a matter of days. Then, just as Lizzy discovers that she's actually pregnant, Luke announces that he and Prudence have gotten married - and in an instant, a different kind of family is born.

NBC's "One Big Happy" is attempting to desensitize America and our children. This new show is damaging to our culture and harmful to our society for a number of reasons. This program glamorizes one night stands, n-dity, homosexuality, and foul language (such as v-gina and b-tch). 1MM is prepared to contact sponsors of "One Big Happy" requesting they pull financial support from the program. It is proven this strategy works! It was not too long ago that NBC announced "The New Normal" had been canceled after only one season because of lack of advertisers! Please use the information we have provided to contact Synsodyne (GlaxoSmithKline) and ask they pull their financial support from "One Big Happy."

Ellen DeGeneres is one of the show's executive producers.

Record High Marriage Poll: 59% Say Yes

From a just-released NBC/WSJ poll:

In the new survey released Monday, 59 percent of Americans said that they favor same-sex marriages while just 33 percent said they oppose them. The numbers have shifted dramatically in the past decade. In 2004, only 30 percent of Americans said they supported same-sex marriage, while 62 percent disagreed. Half of those polled at the time said they strongly opposed allowing gays and lesbians to marry. Democratic pollster Fred Yang noted how quickly public opinion has shifted on the issue, even compared to interracial marriage, which is now almost universally accepted. "It took about 25 years for interracial marriage to get from 30 percent support to 60 percent," he said. "It took same-sex marriage ten years." The share of the public backing same-sex marriage has even jumped from just two years ago, when 53 percent of Americans backed it and 42 percent did not. That's due in part to big increases in support among Republicans (up 13 percent since 2013), seniors (up seven percent), and Hispanics (up 18 percent).

See the breakdown here. (Tipped by JMG reader Glenn)

Announcer Don Pardo Dies At Age 96

Saturday Night Live announcer Don Pardo has died at the age of 96.

Pardo died peacefully at his home in Tucson, Arizona, where he moved after retiring from SNL in 2006, said his daughter, Dona Pardo. Creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels asked him to continue with the show, and for many weeks he recorded his introductions from his Tucson home, she said. Those introductions and his voice were so distinctive that longtime fans of the late-night sketch comedy series immediately noticed when he missed the opening of the March 2, 2013 episode; it was later reported that he had suffered a broken hip. Pardo, who began his career at NBC Radio in 1940 and switched to television in the 1950s, worked as an announcer on numerous game shows including The Price is Right and the original Jeopardy! in the mid-1960s. He was Jeopardy!'s announcer from 1964 until the original version, with host Art Fleming, ended in 1975. A decade later, in 1975, he turned to late night work, becoming the voice over announcer for the hit comedy series Saturday Night Live.

Queer Nation Protests At Today Show

Yesterday several of you emailed me to wonder what they'd just seen over the shoulders of Today Show hosts Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. Queer Nation activist Duncan Osborne explains:

"We walked in from 49th and 6th because they had the small crowd on the little plaza and the 49th St. side of the plate glass windows was unobstructed. As we whipped open... the Boycott Homophobia banner and pulled out Gay-Bashing is not an Olympic Sport signs, the cops tried to grab us and hustle us across the street. We insisted on holding our ground (Get your hands off me! This is a public sidewalk!) and succeeded in staying there, evidently quite visible over Hoda's shoulder. After 5-10 minutes, they went to commercial, and got up from the anchor desk. Kathie Lee gave a smile and wave to the plaza crowd, then turned and looked at us, glared at me, and refused to return the smile and wave I was giving her. About 15 minutes later, they came back to the anchor desk for a segment. This time Kathie Lee looked at me, still stony, but felt forced to return my wave a little. Then they lowered the curtains around the whole studio. We packed up and left. A good time was had by all. All except for Kathie Lee, apparently."

That's famed activist and Gay USA host Ann Northrop behind the letter "B". Photo by Donna Aceto.

Brian Williams - Rapper's Delight

Best one of these I've ever seen.

NBC Edits Out IOC Anti-Discrimination Statement From Opening Ceremony

Deadspin has what may be the biggest scoop of last night's opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics, noting that NBC edited out IOC president Thomas Bach making a "strong statement against 'any form of discrimination' and in favor of tolerance." Everybody else in the world heard Bach's statement, but Americans did not.  Below is the edited-out portion of the speech.

Now you are living in an Olympic Region. I am sure you will enjoy the benefits for many, many years to come. Thousands of volunteers have welcomed us with the well-known warm Russian hospitality. Many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers. Bolshoi spasiba, valantyoram! Thank you very much to everyone. Russia and the Russians have set the stage for you, the best winter athletes on our planet. From this moment on you are not only the best athletes, you are Olympic Athletes.

You will inspire us with your outstanding sports performances. You have come here for sports. You have come here with your Olympic dream. The International Olympic Committee wants your Olympic Dream to come true. This is why we are investing almost all of our revenues in the development of sports. The universal Olympic rules apply to each and every athlete- no matter where you come from or what your background is.

You are living together in the Olympic Village. You will celebrate victory with dignity and accept defeat with dignity. You are bringing the Olympic Values to life. In this way, the Olympic Games, wherever they take place, set an example for a peaceful society. Olympic Sport unites people. This is the Olympic Message the athletes spread to the host country and to the whole world. Yes, it is possible to strive even for the greatest victory with respect for the dignity of your competitors. Yes, Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to live together under one roof in harmony, with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason. Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to listen, to understand and to give an example for a peaceful society.

Visit Deadspin to watch the two clips and see NBC's "very awkward edit."

RELATED: Bach, a German, was elected to an eight-year term as IOC president in September 2013.

Jay Leno Says Goodbye

The Tea Party won't like this part: “People say to me, ‘Why didn’t you go to ABC, to Fox?’ I don’t know anybody over there. These are the only people I have ever known. I’m also proud to say, this is a union show. And I have never worked with a more professional group of people in my life. They get paid good money and they do a good job.”

NEW YORK CITY: Queer Nation Heckles NBC's Matt Lauer And Brian Boitano

Via their Facebook page: "Queer Nation NY paid a visit to NBC News Today Show studio in Rockefeller plaza this morning to say hi to Matt Lauer. Our message: Human Rights Are Not A Game! Putin's Lies Kill!" More photos are at the link.

And from last night, via press release:

Two members of Queer Nation confronted three-time Olympian Brian Boitano tonight, demanding he speak out against Russia’s recently enacted anti-LGBT laws when he represents the U.S. at the Olympics next month. Boitano, who is one of three openly gay men and women chosen by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Olympic delegation, was appearing at New York’s Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea as part of “Brainwave: Mind Over Matter,” an ongoing series that pairs men and women prominent in their various professions with psychologists, psychiatrists, ​and ​neurologists to discuss how the mind and brain work.

During his introduction of Boitano, Tim McHenry, the Rubin’s director of public programs and performance, spoke with admiration about how Brian Boitano had become “a courageous champion of human rights and artists.” "When did he do that and what is it that he said?" shouted Duncan Osborne, one of the protesters. "He's going to a country with a record of abusing human rights, especially the rights of gay men and women, and he has yet to speak out about it,” Osborne continued.

Boitano has as yet said nothing against Russia’s anti-LGBT laws, instead insisting that athletes and spectators respect the laws of the country they will be visiting. Tennis great Billie Jean King, who has also been chosen to represent the U.S. in Sochi, has been somewhat vocal about her disapproval of the Russian laws. “Stand up and tell us what you are going to do what are you going to say in Russia,” yelled Jamie Bauer,” the other protester from Queer Nation. Boitano remained seated and silent and refused to acknowledge the protesters.

Audience members booed the protesters.

Bob Costas: NBC Won't Ignore Russia's Anti-Gay Laws During Olympics Coverage

NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas yesterday vowed that his network will not ignore Russia's anti-gay laws during their coverage of the Sochi Olympics.

“If Putin doesn’t drag his butt into the studio, then we’ll talk about it without him,” Costas said during an Olympics press preview. “But if he shows up, we’d rather talk to him. Wouldn’t you rather hear it from the horse’s mouth? I would. That’s what I was trying to say.” At the press event in Studio 8H of "Saturday Night Live" fame, NBC executives expressed how significant the world sports spectacle is for the entertainment and media conglomerate. NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke went as far as to say, “The soul of this company is the Olympics.”

TODAY: Queer Nation To Protest At NBC

Queer Nation will today crash the holiday party for NBC staffers at a hotel in downtown New York City. They write:

This is the not at all inspiring tale of the International Olympic Committee and eleven of the top Olympic sponsors' Road to Sochi. This coalition of some of the biggest mega-corporations on Earth dutifully and unfortunately followed the lead of feckless IOC president Thomas Bach. They have made a collective agreement that the shining ideals of the Olympic charter are merely easily expendable platitudes if they ever threaten to interfere with the collecting of large wheel barrels full of Olympic profits. The result of the IOC and sponsors' inaction is the Olympic charters' hollow assurances of non-discrimination and respect for basic human rights have now been reduced to mere jive talk and many in the global LGBTQ community are not at all fooled by it.

HomoQuotable - Nancy Goldstein

"NBC has been dodging attempts from activists to hold them accountable since the laws were enacted. A letter from the gay lobbying group Human Rights Campaign’s president asking NBC to include news of Russia's human-rights violations alongside their standard Olympics coverage elicited a mealy-mouthed response from the network, which said it would 'provide coverage of Russia's anti-gay laws if the controversial measures surface as an issue during the upcoming Winter Olympics.' As though the fact that Neo-Nazis keep luring gay men to hotel rooms by baiting them online, then kidnapping and torturing them and posting their videos online isn’t an issue at all so long as no queers are actually forced to drink their own urine in front of NBC’s cameras during the snowboarding finals." - Nancy Goldstein, writing for Prospect.

NBC Backs Johnny Weir's Apology

Earlier today I posted Johnny Weir's apology for calling Queer Nation activists "idiots."  NBC has now issued a short statement about the flap. Via Deadline: “We’re supportive of Johnny’s apology for his choice of words last night in an emotional setting. As we’ve previously stated, NBC will cover all newsworthy issues as they are relevant to the Games, including the LGBT law.”

Carrie Underwood - The Sound Of Music

Newsday reports on The Sound of Music Live!, which airs on Thursday at 8PM.

NBC has a lot riding on this one. The production boasts two directors (Broadway vet Rob Ashford, who worked with the cast on character, and Beth McCarthy-Miller, who has helmed live shows including "Saturday Night Live") -- six lavish sets (Alps, abbey, and so on, constructed in a row, extending about a half-mile inside a hangar-like building) -- and 12 cameras (six to shoot a scene as another six maneuver into position to shoot the next scene, a leapfrogging dance requiring rehearsal just like the actors). Plus one popular if inexperienced star. "I've always been up for a challenge," says Underwood, an "American Idol" darling who's never performed in a musical. Not even in high school, back in Checotah, Okla.

Johnny Weir: Gay Activists Are Idiots

Andy Humm reports at Gay City News:

Former Olympic skater Johnny Weir was picketed by Queer Nation outside his talk at Barnard College December 2 for his position that “the Olympics are not the place to make a political statement” about Russia’s anti-gay laws and “you have to respect the culture of a country you are visiting.” During his talk he spoke of “idiots like the ones outside tonight, dumping vodka in the street,” action he dismissed as useless. “They say all these stupid things,” he told the audience of about 40 Barnard women students. “I never supported the [Russian] government. I supported the people.”

The banner outside, made and held by Gilbert Baker, creator of the Rainbow Flag, among others, stated in blood red, “Weir: Russian Olympic Clown; N.B.C.: Naïve Bloody Collaborators.” [snip] “We’re angry at him for not telling the truth about what’s going on in Russia to LGBT Russians and everybody else who dissents, who are being brutalized,” said Ann Northrop of Queer Nation at the protest. “He is selling out millions of people to satisfy his desire not to forgo his income or status. Is this what he would have done in Germany in 1936?”

Read Humm's full article.

Image source.

HomoQuotable - Ken Kidd

"Johnny Weir is an insufferable, entitled twit, to say the least. Fine. But he's NBC's Token Olympic Gay, and many people's only perceived authority on Putin's Russia. So when he starts peppering his NBC color commentary with lies, gently but confidently faux-explaining how 'it's really not so bad over there' and 'what a shame' that a small number of troublemakers have to 'put a black cloud over (Sochi) for everyone,' he becomes a highly-paid, highly dishonest, highly dangerous quisling. Shame." - Queer Nation member Ken Kidd, writing on Facebook.

Breitbart Headline Of The Day

Palin is really milking this one.

Palin PAC Writes To MSNBC: Why Haven't You Disciplined Martin Bashir?

"We would now like to know what disciplinary measures you are taking about Martin Bashir’s appalling statement on his MSNBC show last Friday that someone should defecate and/or urinate in Governor Palin’s mouth because she used the word 'slavery' to describe the burden the federal debt will have on future generations of Americans. You fired Don Imus for offensive language in describing the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team, you suspended Alec Baldwin, and yet nothing has happened to Mr. Bashir. Are we to assume then, that disciplinary procedures at your network take place based on the target of the remarks rather than the remarks themselves?

"Last week, MNSBC suspended Alec Baldwin's show, Up With Alec Baldwin, for two weeks after Baldwin was caught on camera using anti-gay slurs at a photographer on the streets of New York. Mr. Baldwin’s anti-gay slur was not uttered while he was on the air on your network, but Mr. Bashir’s violent rhetoric was. Americans deserve to know that your network doesn’t condone violent and hateful rhetoric directed at anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or political persuasion." - Sarah PAC, in a letter sent to the presidents of NBC News and MSNBC.