USA TODAY International Edition
It may not be pretty, but the p- word appears to have gotten a pass
Outrage over nasty words uttered on TV may be a fading phenomenon, as demonstrated by the widespread shrugging over Dave Chappelle’s use of the p- word and the n- word on Saturday Night Live.
Was it illegal or just hilariously rude? Did he or NBC break a law, or merely trash the taste test? The network declined to comment on whether Chappelle’s language violated internal network or show standards for late- night broadcasts.
But Chappelle himself seemed to sense the risk even as he was delivering his opening: He aimed an apology at SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels, who was offstage.
But the sound of gasping was not heard across the land. One local NBC affiliate, WRAL in Raleigh, N. C., censored the show audio nine times during the broadcast, later citing Chappelle’s comments as justification.
But even that station says it will review its standards, according to a statement on its website Sunday from general manager Steve Hammel.
“We apologize for impeding the full flow and message of Dave Chappelle’s monologue. It was not our intention to censor his message,” Hammel said. “We followed policies and procedures that have been in place for many years. ... This is an opportunity for us to review those policies and procedures.”
It’s not clear whether any other local affiliate did the same. After all, Chappelle — in his first- ever
SNL hosting appearance, and after the election last week of Donald Trump — was joking about the president- elect’s casual use in 2005 of the same offensive term.
News of that, caught on a hot mike, briefly upended his campaign and was the subject of countless news broadcasts and media stories last month.
But the shame- on- you tweets after SNL were few and far between. “No white person could have said what #DaveChappelle said. Especially saying ( the p- word) and the # Nword. Shame on all of you,” a Twitter user in Pittsburgh wrote.
“I’m surprised ( NBC) got away with it,” says Paul Porter, a former BET programming executive who now owns a radio station in Orlando. He believes many Americans have become inured to both words from their use in popular culture.
“Was Chappelle hilarious? Yes, his monologue was great, but ( those words) should not have been on SNL. NBC should have censored it. ... There should be a moral responsibility.”
Chappelle’s monologue was widely praised, seemingly by all sides. Trump supporters appreciated his “Give Trump a chance” sentiments; Trump opponents thought he brilliantly nailed the despair of the defeated.
Even the Parents Television Council, a reliable critic of violence and sexual content on TV, couldn’t get worked up about Chappelle and SNL, which airs too late for most children anyway.
It’s not clear whether anyone lodged an SNL complaint by Monday with the Federal Communications Commission, which enforces federal law against obscenity, indecency and profanity on public airwaves. The FCC doesn’t answer that kind of question without a formal Freedom of Information Act request, which can be a lengthy process.
According to the agency’s media office, what is banned on TV depends on what is said, the context and the time of day. The bottom line: The p- word may be offensive, cruel and sophomoric, but it probably not illegal, and especially not in the 11: 35 p. m. time slot when SNL begins.
Obscene content ( defined by courts as appealing to prurient interest, patently offensive sexual conduct, lacking in serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value) is banned at all times. Indecent content ( sexual or excretory organs or activities) and profane content ( grossly offensive language) is banned on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a. m. and 10 p. m. ( the so- called Safe Harbor), when children may be in the audience.
“The FCC has never said that ( the p- word) is one of those words you can’t say on TV, and there’s fairly strong reason to believe it’s not,” says First Amendment lawyer Lee Levine in Washington. “Issues of taste and rudeness don’t matter legally.”
Porter says existing broadcasting regulations are too broad and too hard to enforce. Levine says there are real doubts that the regulations are still relevant in the era of Twitter, Netflix and cable.
Republican administrations have typically been more interested than Democratic administrations in using FCC standards as a tool to regulate language on TV, Levine says. “But the president- elect is known himself for his ... salty language — the original use of this word was his.”