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Did anyone catch it? I didn't. So by BET Comedy Awards, I'm guessing only BET comics were eligible. So what do you think of the Mooney fallout? What Mooney fallout, you ask? Well this one:

COMEDIAN PAUL MOONEY'S OUTRAGEOUS ATTACK ON DIANA ROSS AT BET AWARDS TAPING:(September 26, 2005)
*What started out as comedian/writer Paul Mooney's questionable "Nigga Wake Up Award" turned into an all-out insult to Diana Ross last night at the taping of the BET Comedy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. For some reason Mooney thought the famed singer was deserving of being talked about like a dog because of her arrest for drunk driving from two or three years ago.

Needless to say, Mooney's mean-spirited tirade was met with disbelief, disgust and silence from the audience in the auditorium and members of the press in the media room covering the event. What made it more difficult to witness was the fact that Tracee Ellis Ross was in the auditorium while Mooney went through his attack. Actually Miss Ellis Ross couldn't take it and left the auditorium.

Backstage in the press room when EUR's Lee Bailey confronted Mooney about his bit on Ross being way over the top, the comedian defended his actions.

"How can somebody get arrested for (being under the influence) and go to jail and I be over the top? I think that's over the top, don't you? Agree or disagree, folks. No, comedy is not over the top," Mooney said. "When you are a celebrity and you do crazy stuff, that's the game."

At that point Bailey asked him if thought about the fact that Tracee Ellis Ross was in the room while he delivered his diatribe against her mother.

"I didn't know ... her mama could've been in there, that's not the point. I didn't drive drunk," Mooney shot back. "Now I'm responsible for Diana Ross? If you scrutinize Jay Leno and David Letterman the same way you scrutinize me, then I'll agree with you, but if you don't touch them white folks don't touch me. They say what ever they want to say every night."

Record executive and member of old school group Club Nouveau, Jay King, was in the audience and was clearly disgusted by Mooney's comments.

"Diana Ross' thing to me was just a personal demon she was dealing with, it wasn't something that he needed to go on record (talking about). If he'd have kept it light and funny it would've been fine, but he got down right dirty and divisive," King told us. "He said he says nigga a hundred times a day, well today he did ... he was a nigga a hundred times for doing that. Her daughter was in that audience. That's ridiculous. He was nasty and he was rude. Paul Mooney knows better than that. He knows where to draw the line and stepped over the line tonight. I've seen him push the envelope, but tonight is the first time I've been offended by something he said, because with the Diana Ross thing, once he knew he was offensive, he just continued on ... he didn't wanna stop. At that point, he meant to hurt and damage somebody."

That raises the question of how BET is going to deal with Mooney's "moment." In fact, with all the "niggas," "bitches," "MFs" and other words that can't be said on TV, the network's producers and editors have got one hellava challenge ahead of them. The BET Comedy Awards air tomorrow night (09-27-05) from 9 until 11 PM E/P.

In tomorrow's EUR, we'll bring you more about the show as well as comedians Steve Harvey and Sheryl Underwood's reactions to Paul Mooney.

mojones,
Right now the story I keep finding on my google search is this same article which seems a little biased and unbalanced to me.I missed the awards this year and last year.......

bingolong,
damn, but it didn't tell us what he actually said...!?!?
I spoke to him the next morning and he said he 'killed'!
Yikes..........

Jennifer,
Yeah that's what I am saying.I think he "probably killed "too...this story seems like it is from a "rumormill/gossip" point of view just in the presentation.....

Jennifer,

The article was probably written by friends of Diana Ross' daughter. I like Tracie and Diana. But this is comedy. If you're a celebrity, you have to know the hits are coming. If it's any consolation, Diana Ross has more money than most of the people watching BET anyway....give me 20 million dollars and you can call me whatever you want!!!

mojones, I went out after the comedy club last night with about 8 comics we were all talking about this..one of them made the point of hearing Leno do the same kind of joke when it happend

Guys I just got back from the only place I could get an honest opinion of the show:

the barbershop


PAUL MOONEY DID THE DAMN THING!!!!! The only things the talked about on the show was Martin gettin an award,Steve Harvey's intro to the show and how dead on point Paul Mooney was!!!!!

bingolong, man as a comic I get tired of suckas just trying to find a reason to be offended by a comic. about a month ago we threw a show in a nice spot with a stage, we asked the owner if he had any rules he wanted to observe, he said no..we said are you sure? Is it cool if we cuss..he said do whatever you want..needless to say at the end of the show (which was pretty damned tame) he said we couldn't do the room anymore because two people were offended....and the two people that were offended weren't even at the damned show, they were in the other room at the bar..This is a America you have alot of rights, not ever hearing something that will offend you ain't one of them...you know I've heard comics doing tasteless cancer jokes, and i walk out of the room once they start, I don't feel the need to tell them not to do the jokes.

Murphdogg,

I feel the same way. If you don't like it, you're free to leave. No biggie. Take the latest flack surrounding William Bennett for example. Insenstive? Yeah. But nothing to have a coronary over. I'll just change radio channels. Problem solved.

mojones,
....and you know what guys.... I just saw the segment with Paul Mooney for the first time and it was edited ...Then Steve Harvey came behind it later and thru his two cents in!!Damn at least let us see what the hoopla is about,don't edit shit out and then have someone come behind it and make remarks about it ...and initially the crowd showed him love so still that shit was funny to me!!!

*What started out as comedian/writer Paul Mooney’s questionable “Nigga Wake Up Award” turned into an all-out insult to Diana Ross last night at the taping of the BET Comedy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. For some reason Mooney thought the famed singer was deserving of being talked about like a dog because of her arrest for drunk driving from two or three years ago.

Needless to say, Mooney’s mean-spirited tirade was met with disbelief, disgust and silence from the audience in the auditorium and members of the press in the media room covering the event. What made it more difficult to witness was the fact that Tracee Ellis Ross was in the auditorium while Mooney went through his attack. Actually Miss Ellis Ross couldn’t take it and left the auditorium.

Backstage in the press room when EUR’s Lee Bailey confronted Mooney about his bit on Ross being way over the top, the comedian defended his actions.

Excerpt from an article I found at blackinformant.com:

[/i]Although I do not condone the word “nigga”, Mooney’s lil’ routine was totally in bounds (according to BET’s own rule book!). It’s okay to make fun of Michael Jackson, O.J., Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown and their issues, but its not okay to touch someone that black Hollywood feels is the original and untouchable Diva (as if she doesn’t have her share of issues as well). Anybody care to recall her behavior in the latter years when she was with the Supremes?

Unfortunately Mooney is right to suggest that in today’s comedy, there are no boundaries (even if the person or their children are in the room). Let’s not forget that most comedians regularly pick someone out in the crowd to ridicule them. Why should this be “different”?

The most hilarious thing about this story is something the writer did not include in his article. WE know good and doggone well that while Negroes were (gasp!) appalled at Mooney’s outburst, THE SAME DAG-ON NEGROES got into their limos when it was all over and holla’d. They were just too embarrassed to publicly acknowledge that it was funny.

That is how we do it.
[/i]