When one thinks about offensive actors, Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t typically come to mind. Nevertheless, the How I Met Your Mother star caused a stir after an appearance on Live! With Kelly last Thursday.
During a segment with Science Bob, in which guest-host Harris and Kelly Ripa inhaled sulfur hexafluoride, the gas (which Science Bob described as “helium’s evil twin”) lowered both of their voices.
Ripa pulled a James Earl Jones, saying, “Luke, I am your father.” Meanwhile, Harris mimicked Silence of the Lambs killer Buffalo Bill, saying, “Put the lotion in the basket,” causing Ripa to bend over, laughing.
When the gas wore off, Harris remarked, “I’ve never sounded more like a tranny in my life.”
On Friday, Harris – who is openly gay – took to Twitter to apologize. “Truly sorry for saying the word ‘tranny’ on Live this week. Twice!” he wrote. “Should have been more thoughtful. Didn’t at all mean to offend.”
Media monitoring organization GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) acknowledged the 38-year-old actor’s mea culpa Friday afternoon.
“It’s heartening to see a celebrity of Harris’s stature recognize and apologize for using the slur in such a timely manner, and for greater media attention being paid to its use,” GLAAD said in a statement.
“Many people do not realize that the word ‘tr*nny’ is one of the most hurtful and dehumanizing slurs that transgender people hear. Most transgender people associate that word with personal experiences of violence, hatred and derision.”
GLAAD took issue with an episode of Glee that aired last October, in which Mike Chang (played by Harry Shum, Jr.) says that his parents didn’t want him “dressing like a tranny” in McKinley High’s production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The watchdog responded on its blog, “The casual manner in which the word was used is jarring … many still don’t realize that using the term is hurtful, dehumanizing and associated with violence.”
It also noted use of the term on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother, on The A-List: New York (which airs on LGBT-interest U.S. digital network Logo), and on Lifetime’s Project Runway, as Season 4 winner Christian Siriano’s catchphrase.
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