BMS told you about CNN suspending contributor Roland Martin INDEFINITELY (the buzz on the inside is DON”T expect him back at the network)! The suspension comes after he sent some nasty anti-gay tweets during the Super Bowl game! CNN execs aren’t sure what to do with Martin but they’re bracing themselves for the backlash that may come from Black viewers.
Well that “backlash” has already begun! Several groups including the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists) are speaking out against the suspension.
Pastor Jamal Bryant of Empowerment Temple A.M.E in Baltimore, Maryland has taken the fight to his Facebook page calling for his more than 120,000 fans to boycott CNN and instead watch Al Sharpton on MSNBC.
We should let you know Pastor Bryant, seen below, was tied up in his own scandal DRAMA just a few years ago. In 2009, his wife Gizelle filed for divorce (for the second time) after scandalous rumors of alleged affairs involving the pastor started circling.
It was reported that Pastor Bryant had affairs with several women since the couple’s engagement. His supposed womanizing went overboard when he impregnated a church member said to be 17 years old at the time of the affair. When accusations of this affair surfaced in the summer of 2007, church leaders asked him to step down while they initiated an investigation and awaited paternity test results.
Court records acquired from the Circuit Court of Maryland do indicate the pastor is the father of a least one other child who was born before he got married. Bryant has four daughters Topaz, Grace, and twins Angel and Adore. He has since apologized and is still pastor of the church.
Now, back to Martin, CNN originally stayed silent on the matter but issued this statement Wednesday afternoon: “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”
Martin wrote on Monday night that he “sincerely regret any offense” the controversial tweets he wrote during the Super Bowl on Sunday had caused. But he was steadfast in his insistence that he had not been making any homophobic statements in the tweets, as gay rights groups have charged.
We toldya GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) called on CNN to fire him soon after he sent the tweets! They have since released this statement….“CNN today took a strong stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community,” said GLAAD spokesperson Rich Ferraro. “Yesterday, Martin also spoke out against anti-LGBT violence. We look forward to hearing from CNN and Roland Martin to discuss how we can work together as allies and achieve our common goal of reducing anti-LGBT violence as well as the language that contributes to.”
It was this tweet sent by Martin that set off a fire storm….
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