Disability insurer Aflac Inc. has severed ties with the comedian, who has voiced its trademark duck for years, on Monday, March 14, in reaction to his 'lacking in humor' tweets about the disaster.
- March 15, 2011
AceShowbiz -
50 Cent apparently isn't the only one feeling the heat for Twitter jokes about the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried has faced an even more severe consequence as he has been fired by disability insurer Aflac Inc. as the voice of its iconic duck after making light of the disaster in a series of tweets.
"Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac," Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna explained in a statement. "There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times."
Gilbert has posted about a dozen jokes on Twitter related to the devastating earthquake and tsunami over the weekend. One joke read, "I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, 'They'll be another one floating by any minute now.' " In another, he wrote, "Japan is really advanced. They don't go to the beach. The beach comes to them." The tweets have since been taken down.
The stand-up comedian has been the voice of the Aflac duck in the company's commercials for a little more than a decade. His agent was not immediately available to comment.
While Gilbert has not spoken out about his jokes, 50 Cent has previously offered his apology for his insensitive remarks about the natural disaster in Japan. He tweeted, "Some of my tweets are ignorant I do it for shock value. Hate it or love it. I'm cool either way 50cent."
