Craig Ferguson’s monologue where he refused to make fun of Britney Spears is particularly poignant right now, given the release of The New York Times’ documentary, Framing Britney Spears.
Ferguson’s monologue is from February 20th, 2007, which per Vulture makes it four days after Spears had shaved her head in the public meltdown.
In the beginning of the monologue, Ferguson begins to open up on how he realised that his joke making might be affecting those who he makes fun of. He says, “I’m as guilty as sin about this.”
As if he’s had some kind of epiphany he goes onto say, “I don’t know how good I feel about this, I need to do stuff that I feel comfortable with. I want to be able to be funny, but I want to be able to get some sleep.
He even likens the press at the time to be like America’s Funniest Home Videos.
Ferguson continues, “I’m starting to feel uncomfortable about making fun of these people. For me, comedy should have a sentiment of joy in it. It should be about artists attacking the powerful people. Attacking the politicians, and the Trumps, and the blowhards. Go after them.”
“We shouldn’t be attacking the vulnerable people. This is totally a mea culpa; this is just for me. I think my aim’s been off a bit, recently. I want to change it a bit. So tonight, no Britney Spears jokes.”
Love Pop?
Get the latest Pop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Despite the audience getting in a few laughs here and there, Ferguson maintains that his decision to steer away from Britney Spears jokes is not driven by a motive, sharing that on the previous weekend on which Spears had her public meltdown, he had celebrated his 15th anniversary of being sober.
Watch Craig Ferguson explain why he refuses to make jokes about Britney Spears.
