Norm Macdonald had his appearance on The Tonight Show cancelled by NBC, following comments Macdonald made about Louis C.K., Roseanne Barr and other entertainers who lost major showbiz jobs due to wrongdoing. Macdonald was to appear Sept. 11.
Related: Louis C.K. Confirms Charges Made by Five Women Are True
Macdonald anchored the Saturday Night Live news from 1994 to 1998. His series Norm Macdonald Has a Show is to premiere on Netflix Sept. 14. He described the program as a talk show, but one where he picks the guests, because “It’s hard for me to be curious about people I’m not curious about,” he told B&C.
Macdonald made his comments in The Hollywood Reporter, including that he was “happy the #MeToo movement has slowed down a little bit,” and that the public should show a bit more forgiveness for the likes of C.K., who admitted to masturbating in front of women who did not want to witness that, and Barr, who posted a racist tweet. Macdonald wrote for the original Roseanne.
Related: ABC Cancels 'Roseanne'
He wrote on Twitter, “Roseanne and Louis have both been very good friends of mine for many years. They both made terrible mistakes and I would never defend their actions. If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day, I am deeply sorry.”
NBC said it cancelled Macdonald’s appearance “out of sensitivity to our audience.”
The New York Times said Netflix did not respond to a query about whether Macdonald’s show will launch as planned.
