Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Making a living off “ugly” has been not-so-bad for this woman (and good for her … use what ya got, or don’t got). Until now. It gets old … very old. As does the ugly broad delivering it. And you would think after such a successful career of shooting her mouth off like a fart-loaded Howitzer she would have been able to afford a razor for those pits by now …

By Jessica Heslam - (Boston Herald)

A Boston shelter for homeless women has dropped controversial comedian Sandra Bernhard as the marquee speaker at its annual fund-raising event because of her “gang rape” joke about Sarah Palin.

Sue Marsh, executive director of Rosie’s Place, said today that she learned of Bernhard’s remarks yesterday after getting an e-mail about them.

“We were horrified so we decided that we wouldn’t have her at our event,” Marsh said.

Bernhard said during a comedy routine last month that Palin, John McCain’s GOP running mate, would be “gang-raped” by blacks if she came to Manhattan.

Bernhard was billed as this year’s special guest for the 9th annual Funny Women, Serious Business to benefit Rosie’s Place.

Marsh said the Oct. 16 event at the Hynes Convention Center will still go on as planned but a replacement for Bernhard hasn’t been tapped.

Sandra Bernhard denies issuing Sarah Palin ‘gang rape’ warning

By KORIN MILLER - (Daily News) - Thursday, October 2nd 2008

Outspoken comedienne Sandra Bernhard has shot down earlier reports that she said Sarah Palin would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” if she enters Manhattan.

“I never said ‘gang-raped’ and I never used ‘rape,’ ” Bernhard told the Daily News on Thursday.

The funnywoman was widely criticized after reportedly making the remark in her opening monologue during a show last month at Washington, D.C.’s Theater J.

Bernhard’s clarification comes on the heels of the announcement that she has been dropped as the keynote speaker for mid-October benefit at Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter in Boston.

Bernhard, 53, was asked to confirm the “gang rape” remark when first contacted by the Daily News in mid-September - and never denied it.

“That comment is part of a much larger, nuanced, and yes, provocative (that’s what I do) piece from my show about racism, freedom, women’s rights, and the extreme views of Governor Sarah Palin,” she said in an e-mail at the time.

Bernhard told us on Thursday that she waited to set the record straight because, “as a performer, I’m not in the business of explaining myself to ill-informed critics.

“However, once this caused collateral damage to an innocent charity which does great work, I needed to correct things for the record.”

Bernhard wouldn’t recall the exact words she had spoken, citing her monologue’s improvisational nature, but said she “addressed the issue [that] if Sarah Palin had, God forbid, been violated, would she be willing to care for the baby?”

Despite the cancellation, Bernhard says she has no hard feelings towards Rosie’s Place, and plans to make a donation “immediately” to the shelter.

“I understand the predicament they’re in,” she said.

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Sandra Bernhard: Palin Would Be Gang-Raped By Blacks in Manhattan

By Tim Graham - (Newsbusters.org) - September 19, 2008

The Washington Post isn’t the only daily D.C. newspaper to rave about Sandra Bernhard’s anti-Palin ranting. Wednesday’s Washington Examiner joined in, with the headline “Comedienne delivers enraged optimism.” Barbara Mackay claimed “in the end, oddly and subtly, Bernhard’s message is positive.”

That’s not the impression you’d get from the blog of Theater J, where Bernhard is appearing. It has video of Bernhard calling Palin “Uncle Women,” a “turncoat b—h” and a “whore.” One complaint on the blog that Bernhard crosses a line of political incorrectness draws a defense from Ari Roth of Theater J that really drops the curtain on how coarse this show is:

In fact, the play wears its politically VERY correct heart on its sleeve with its indictment of America as “A Man’s World, It’s a White Man’s World, It’s a F–ked Up White Man’s Racist World” and can only be suggested to be racist in its content if one is hell-bent on protecting White Folk for Sandra’s blistering indictment.When Sandra warns Sarah Palin not to come into Manhattan lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers, she’s being provocative, combative, humorous, and yes, let’s allow, disgusting.

The fact that the show has a few riffs like this does not — to my mind — make it a “disgusting show.” there’s too much beauty, variety, vitality, and intelligence to label the entire show as “disgusting.” I’ll agree with you that we produced this show because we did find it to be edgy — because we wanted to give right wing conservative Jews a good run for their money by being on the receiving end of some blistering indictments from Sandra.Does it go over the edge sometimes? On the gang-rape joke, yes. Sure. Not much else. It goes over the edge and then comes right back to the cutting edge. [Profanity editing is NB’s.]

Forgive me if gang-rape jokes don’t greet my ears as oddly and subtly positive, as the Examiner suggests, and forgive me if gang-rape jokes aren’t “a rotating sprinkler that a spectator washes in most happily,” like the Washington Post insists. [ ... ]