Saying censorship "was not our intention," Steve Hammel, VP and general manager of Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., said the NBC affiliate will review its obscenity policy after cutting audio nine times during Dave Chappelle’s Nov. 12 Saturday Night Live appearance.
"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 for programming of any kind. This is an opportunity for us to review those policies and procedures. We will, and will consider viewer input as we do that."
Hammel’s comments, posted on WRAL's website, came after the station “heard from many viewers” after the broadcast, during which audio portions of a Walking Dead spoof were also silenced.
WRAL said Chappelle used two words on its obscenity list nine times during his monologue, which the station deleted using its 10-second delay.
