Carson Daly Apologizes Following Gay Joke About JetBlue Flight

The Voice host Carson Daly put his foot in his mouth when voicing up with his thoughts on the incident surrounding JetBlue pilot Clayton Osbon, who had a midair meltdown recently. “On this particular flight, most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas,” Daly said during his radio show on Wednesday. “So it was a bunch of dudes, and well-trained dudes. If that were me, my luck, it would be like, this is the flight going to the Pride in San Francisco.” Bravo, Carson. Way to scrape for a joke. The show host has now issued an apology for his remarks. Carson Daly makes gay joke on the radio

Daly issued the following statement shortly after his on-air comments, following a discussion with gay rights organization GLAAD:

“We live in a time where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals find courage every day to overcome adversity, stand up to bullying and find equality. I’m truly saddened that my words today suggested otherwise. I’ve long been a supporter of gay, lesbian, and transgender rights, and I’m saddened that my comments, however unintentional, offended anyone, specifically members of the LGBT community. The fact that I have hurt anyone is devastating. I’m not that guy. I’m proud to be an ally of the LGBT community and will continue to fight with them.”

Unintentional? Is that why you carried the on-air joke even further, Carson, by imitating someone on the imagined “gay” flight: “‘We’re headed down to Vegas for the floral convention. Can we get a little help up here with the pilot? Oh, no!'”

Okay, okay. Perhaps we, and the rest of those up in arms, should take a cue from Alice Hoagland, mother of 9/11 hero Mark Bingham. Her son was just one of the passengers who charged the cockpit of hijacked Flight 93 on the morning of September 11, 2011. Hoagland responded to Daly’s on-air insult and subsequent apology with the following, as published by Entertainment Weekly:

“Dear Mr. Daly, With your on-the-air comments [Wednesday] morning, you demonstrated an ugly ignorance. But [Wednesday] afternoon you also showed the grace to apologize for your odd remarks, as you should. I hope that now you’ll take the opportunity to learn about the gay community, and how diverse it is. Gay men and women come in every shape and size: short, tall, slender, stout, delicate, and powerful. They do not deserve to be stereotyped, nor categorized. Yes, my gay son was known in our family for bringing me flowers on my birthday and Mother’s Day. He also was known for careening down the rugby pitch, and, on the morning of September 11, 2001, for charging unarmed down the aisle of a doomed Boeing 757 to face knife-wielding Islamist thugs in a hijacked cockpit. No one among his pick-up team of fellow passengers was asking ‘Are you straight? Are you gay?'”

Daly isn’t the first cast member of The Voice to come under fire by GLAAD. Last year coach Blake Shelton earned the organization’s ire when he tweeted about rewording lyrics to a Shania Twain song: “Re-writing my fav Shania Twain song … Any man that tries Touching my behind He’s gonna be a beaten, bleedin’, heaving kind of guy … ”

In response, GLAAD tweeted, “No, @BlakeShelton – violent, anti-gay statements are not what a woman wants. Apologize now. #LGBT #gay #thevoice @NBCTheVoice”

Now it’s time to raise your voice. What are your thought’s on Carson’s apology for his remarks? Was it necessary? Not enough? Let us know below!