Orlando Jones Takes Heat for Tweet Suggesting Liberals Kill Sarah Palin

Erstwhile Mad TV star is coming under fire from conservatives for a political remark he made on Twitter

By Josh Grossberg Oct 25, 2011 3:30 PMTags
Orlando Jones, TwitterTwitter; Steve Mack/Getty Images

If Orlando Jones thinks he can make cracks on Twitter about assassinating politicians, he ought not be surprised when people get upset about it.

The funnyman stirred up a hornet's nest on Saturday when he tweeted some unsolicited advice to liberals, jokingly suggesting they take out Sarah Palin the way Libyans dispensed with their longtime dictator.

"Libyan Rebels kill Gaddafi, if American liberals want respect they better stop listening to Aretha & kill Sarah Palin," he wrote.

Needless to say, the remark didn't go over well with some followers and was eventually picked up by conservative bloggers.

A writer at Andrew Breitbart's BigHollywood pondered: "Can we enjoy his role as Steve the Magazine Salesman in Office Space ever again?"

Addressing a Tennessee fan of the former Republican vice presidential candidate who didn't think the rhetoric was funny, Jones shrugged off the criticism. "I think it's funny that you are so upset about my inane tweet," the comic actor replied.

He added a little later, "I regret to inform you that jokes do not qualify as violent rhetoric. your angry reaction and response however, does(: keep smiling."

After another Palinite called him "a big fat moron" and suggested that killing your mother or sister was in poor taste, Jones fired back: "Honestly making a joke about killing my mother could be very funny. Depends on the joke."

Noting that he was merely "poking fun" at liberals, The Replacements star suggested to followers that if his "tweets are so upsetting to you, please do not read them."

And with press coverage of the tweet gaining steam today, Jones took to Twitter again to clarify what he meant:

"Never thought it was that funny. I thought of it as more of a comment on those who call themselves liberal being ineffective," said the comedian.

Of course, Palin herself stirred controversy last year after she told her conservative base, "Don't retreat, reload," in criticizing President Barack Obama. Debate about the comment was revived several months later after a 22-year-old severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford in a mass shooting that killed six others.