Norm Macdonald’s Down Syndrome Comment Makes Bad Situation Worse

Comedian Norm Macdonald recently made a bad situation worse when he cracked a “Down syndrome” joke during an apology.

Appearing on The Howard Stern Show to address comments he made empathizing with both Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr for the fallout from their respective scandals, Macdonald said that “you’d have to have Down syndrome to not feel sorry” for people who have been harassment victims.

He called the term his “new word” and then added that he normally does not like to do interview because he’s “a f—ing dumb guy.”

As mentioned, Macdonald was appearing on the show in the first place to add to his apology for what some saw as him not taking the #MeToo movement or the race-related remarks of Barr seriously.

“If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day, I am deeply sorry,” Macdonald said in a previous statement. “I never defended them,” he clarified this time around. “I am completely behind the #MeToo movement.”

The backlash has been so fiery that it caused Macdonald to lose his guest slot on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which he was scheduled to appear on.

“Jimmy comes to me … and he was like, ‘How should we play this? I said ‘I think we should say it at the end because if you say it at the beginning, you can’t come back from that,’” Macdonald explained.

“And he said, ‘What am I supposed to ask?’ And I said, “Jimmy, I don’t exactly know.’ So he leaves,” he continued. “Then someone suggested I start the show with an apology, and I go, ‘It’s not my show.’

And Jimmy came back in and said ‘Can I talk to you, buddy?’ He was very broken up about it. And he said ‘I don’t know what to do. And I said ‘Should I not do the show?’ And he said. ‘I don’t know. It’s just that I have so much pressure from so many people.’ He goes, ‘People are crying.’ And I say, ‘People are crying?!’ And he said, ‘Yeah. Senior producers are crying.’ And I said ‘Good lord! Bring them in and let me talk to them. I don’t want to make people cry,’” Macdonald went on to reveal

“So Jimmy said, ‘Come back whenever you want, but I think it will hurt the show tonight. And I said, ‘Jimmy I don’t want to hurt your show. That is the last thing I want to do,’” he finally said.

At this time, there is no word on if any of Macdonald’s other TV appearances have been canceled.