Kevin James makes people laugh for a living, both with his long-running sitcom “The King of Queens” and comedy hits like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”
When Breitbart News asked him recently about his views on “The Innocence of Muslims,” the film the Obama administration blamed for much of the recent unrest in the Middle East, James took the matter seriously.
We asked James, who visited Denver to promote his latest comedy “Here Comes the Boom,” his thoughts on why his Hollywood peers didn’t speak out for the free speech rights of the film’s creator – no matter how crude or offensive his video may be.
George Clooney called it “unfortunate” that the First Amendment protected the filmmaker behind the project. Bette Midler suggested the filmmaker should be charged for murder.
Meanwhile, exhibits like “Piss Christ” get to grace U.S.-based art museums without a critical word from celebrities about its potential to upset Catholics.
“Unfortunately, welcome to Hollywood,” James says. “They don’t want to offend in some cases, but they don’t mind offending in others.”
James says he hasn’t seen the video in question – he’s been buried in “Boom”-related publicity and filmmaking, and he says he feels awful for the lives lost recently in the Middle East.
The comedian understands there’s a fuzzy line between art and material that offends. He finds “Piss Christ” exhibit “extremely offensive,” for example. And he sure didn’t want to offend MMA fighters with “Boom,” a movie which pays tribute to the blue-collar folks who participate in the sport.
He doesn’t have any easy answers, but he’s certainly aware of a double standard existing within the show business community.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.