US: Comedian Aries Spears targets ‘gay lisp’ joke at Michael Sam
Comedian Aries Spears took a shot at Michael Sam recently, using the out NFL player as the punchline to a joke about gay people having stereotypical lisps.
Appearing as a guest on ESPN’s SportsNation on Wednesday, Sprears brought up the subject of Michael Sam.
According to Toronto Sun, he said: “I went out and got my first Michael Sam jersey.”
The female host Michelle Beadle responded, “Yeah!” but quickly changed her mood upon hearing the punchline.
“It’s got 15 S’s on the back,” Spears added, playing with the stereotype that gay men have lisps.
Former NFL player Marcellys Wiley, Beadle’s co-host, was the only person in the studio to laugh at the joke after it lingered in shocked silence for a few seconds.
Following the show, Spears tweeted:
Just left sports nation on Espn! Great crew I probably won’t be bk though! Didn’t know it was Disney operated! LOL pic.twitter.com/MUEUme60y0
— Aries Spears (@AriesSpears) October 1, 2014
In August, ESPN apologised for a report questioning whether Michael Sam should shower with his teammates.
