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Modern Family F-Bomb Controversy: "This Is Not Child Abuse!" Says Star Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Oh fudge! Hear what Eric Stonestreet and the Parents Television Council have to say about tonight's episode

By Kristin Dos Santos, Tierney Bricker Jan 18, 2012 10:01 PMTags
Modern Family, Eric Stone Street, AUBREY ANDERSON-EMMONS, JESSE TYLER FERGUSONPeter Hopper Stone/ABC

Kids say the darndest things...and then the Parents Televsion Council gets involved.

Tonight's episode of Modern Family has drawn the attention of the PTC thanks to Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) shocking her parents when she starts dropping the F-bomb. While creator Steve Levitan told reporters at the Television Critics Association that he's "proud and excited" of the new storyline, the Parents Television Council is not happy (without having seen the episode).

So what does the PTC, and Lily's two on-screen dads, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, have to say about this whole fudge-ing mess?

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A rep for ABC has no comment on the matter, but Ferguson tells us: "I can assure you she did not actually say the F-word on the show. We said the very innocent word fudge, but people are all up in arms about that. This is not child abuse!

"We're not making her cuss. What she does on her own time, we don't know but...," he adds with a chuckle.

Coming off Modern Family's Golden Globe win and stellar ratings so far this season, Ferguson says this kind of controversy is par for the course. "I think that with a show like ours, we're so grateful it's a hit, it's a sign of a show being well-loved and being a hit. When people find anything to nit-pick about, it's a good thing I think."

Still, the PTC is less than thrilled, saying,  "It's not suitable language for a child that young in the real world, and it's not suitable language for a child that young on television, either."

Lily's other dad, Eric Stonestreet also had plenty to say on his Twitter about the issue: "For fornication sake people! Again, how bout actually SEEING what you're against before u r so STRONGLY against it. How bout redirecting energies...2 reading 2 the elderly, picking up litter, feeding the hungry..So focused on the 'cussing' in tonight's Modern Family, everyone seems to have neglected Ty, Jesse, Ed's, and my full frontal scene."

Now that's how you deflect attention, people! 

Privately, ABC insiders believe those who are protesting the episode may feel differently once they actually see it tonight.

What say you?

—Additional reporting by Marc Malkin

Sound off in the comments! And we'd love to hear what you think after seeing tonight's show!

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