FCC Probably Powerless To Fine ABC Over Diane Keaton's "Fucking Personality"
Diane Keaton, while appearing live on "Good Morning America," told Diane Sawyer that she's admired her looks, particularly her lips, saying "that if she had lips like that she wouldn't have had to work on her 'fucking personality' and would be married by now." Obviously, Diane Keaton is awesome, but FCC chairman Kevin Martin is notoriously fond of attempting to punish stations that allow free spirited celebrities to slip in a few "shits" and "fucks" into their live television appearances.
After Bono expressed his opinion that winning a Golden Globe was "really, really fucking brilliant," the FCC tried to amend the obscenity rules to include "fleeting references," such as Bono's. The rule was tossed out by a court.
Last year's court decision that threw out the FCC's policy on "fleeting references" complicates any action the commission might want to take against the stations or the network, chairman Kevin Martin told reporters.When asked whether the FCC would take action, Martin appeared flummoxed by the court's decision and the most recent incident of celebrity potty mouth.
"Obviously the commission's pending litigation has impacted a whole host of issues, but I don't know enough about the details of this to see how it would be impacted," he said.
Diane Keaton swears on TV, FCC stammers [a wire service]
( AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)
Post a comment
Comments:
Isn't this like when Bono swore at the Oscars? There wasn't any fine then, and the context is similar. Also, won't somebody think of the fucking children?
until the right person does it, then fines, fines everywhere fines.
is it ok or is it not ok? that's all yes or no. GMA has the ability to run on a delay like radio shows and now award shows. they don't have anything to say that is important enough that 8-10 seconds would be a disaster.
Obviously her "fucking personality" is why she's not married by now.
I just don't get why he's angry that he can't chase after people and levy fines. I mean, sure, there should be some standards, but who exactly is he championing here? Is there a great general outcry by people upset about this? Or is he just mad he can't fill his coffers for stupid fucking reasons? (oooh....fine me!)
@B: also Bono said it at night. this was right about when little jonny would be eating cherios off the table.
Who gives a shit what the fuck Diane fucking Keaton says?
@vanilla-fro: Reflecting further, the context is different. Bono used fucking as a synonym for really, where as Diane Keaton, I think, is using it more as a synonym for bad.
So who bought the upper-700 bandwidth form the FCC this month?
While I deplore the coarsening of language, I cannot in good conscience say that there's anything fucking wrong with what was said. Shit, we're supposed to have freedom of fucking speech in the US of fucking A, aren't we?
She'll need more than just her lips revamped. Eeesh.
video please.
I kinda dig a gal who drops the f-bomb once in a while.
OMG, generic moral outrage!
never mind, here it is: Diane Keaton swears
The best part is Diane Sawyer's forced laughter after it happens. That laughter is filled with unctious stress that if they get fined, she will be spanked.
She's kinda hot in an "older woman who has seen enough that she doesn't care who tells her not to say 'fucking' on the air" sort of way.
Who is Diane Keaton again?
Exactly.
When stuff like this happens, you just have to loosen your tie-if you're a man or Diane Keaton or Avril Lavigne- and then you try to jump out of it.
@Tian: Um, an actress who's been around quite a long time and been in some major movies (like that little indie flick The Godfather and a couple of Woody Allen's best films, IMO).
Honestly, I'd probably watch it more often if the show was called "Good Fucking Morning, America."
People that think they're funny when they drop the F-word anywhere in this comment section need to stick to their day job.
@dgcaste: sorry...were they planning to move to their night jobs? "I us0rred the F-word! I r rockstarz!"? Fuck, man. Chill out.
Diane Keaton has been around forever, and taken on some truly iconic roles, so...uh...yeah, she gets a little leeway in the industry.
You're not funny either.
@dgcaste: Fuck that. What is this, the seven motherfuckin phrases you can't say on the goddamn internet? Don't be a douche.
Are you always a douche when referring to another douche? Does that work for you?
Listen my fellow fucking Americans, you have a constitutional right to free fucking speech. You do not have a constitutional right not to be offended by said fucking speech.
@sir_eccles: I LOL last night at this idiot the news had on who was complaining about the moral outrage of the new Target ads. The ad she thinks should be banned show a girl fully clothed sitting on the target bullseye. I had no idea what she was pissed about since the girl has about 99% of her skin covered. Then she was like the bullseye was some kind of sexual referance because her crotch was in the middle of the bullseye. I was shocked and stunned that someone can be that stupid. Then she went on to say that she spends all her free time looking for things like that in the media. Pretty pathetic.
Uh, Diane Keaton must really have no class.
Even my wife (who can cuss the wallpaper off a wall) knows when to keep her language clean.
I don't mind decency rules on broadcast media. You wanna cuss? Go to cable.
@dgcaste:
Ok Mr.Grumpykins. While I agree that having the inclusion of a swear word be the punchline of a joke is rather far from funny, humour is quite subjective. Someone, somewhere could be in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Calm it down a bit.
I think most of you are missing the point. Diane Keaton shouldn't by fined, but GMA, and the network that airs it should for not having a delay built in so they can censor stuff like this.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freedom of speech, I cuss like a sailor, but this type of thing is never appropriate for daytime broadcasts.
Not only that, but Diane Keaton is fantastic. Anyone who doesn't know who she is needs to go out and rent Annie Hall, Sleepers, and Love and Death.
Tale of these two Dianes:
Sawyer = kinda hawt, graceful, prone to smiling and blinking
Keaton = kinda weird, germophobe, prone to hiding her neck & hands
If it happened on GMA, nothing happens. If it happened on a morning radio show, major fines.
And it's not just the double standard, it's the fact that the FCC refuses to tell you what exactly the rules are...then when something like this happens, maybe they choose not to enforce it.
You can not say fuck on the tv but you can say bovine anal mucus...
Which is worse?
@Islandkiwi: Ditto Oprah, but I bet the Fundamentalist groups that usually carpetbomb (as an army of one, plus a copy machine) the FCC "My sweet lord... they said Peee-nis on the air!" complaints let that slide.
@econobiker: depends on the order you may want to say them in.
I got the bovine anal mucus all over myself and then we.....
or: While we were fucking and then she poured....
nevermind, I guess they're both bad in any order.
@Leiterfluid: Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freedom of speech, I cuss like a sailor, but this type of thing is never appropriate for daytime broadcasts.
Why exactly? Can you give me a good reason why it's not appropriate for daytime broadcasts? Saying it's not good for kids to hear isn't an answer because what makes it bad for kids to hear? What's wrong with the word fuck? If I use fudge in it's place, with the exact same intended meaning, why is that ok? I simply don't understand the taboo behind "curse" words.
I can see why some language is inappropriate, like racial slurs, but expletives are expletives regardless of their spelling or pronunciation.
BBC America lets Gordon Ramsay slip a few "shits" through on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, yet bleps out the rest. I wonder if he's allowed only so many per episode. Anyway, at least The Beeb America isn't as anal as American broadcast TV (and the FCC). And as I noted in another post, we can now expect "vagina" to become "va-jay-jay" when Oprah takes over Discovery Health.
@ad8bc: Good call! It's called common sense and being able to censor one's self. Apparently it's something Diane Keaton is lacking.
SOmehow I always thought, by the way she dresses that she was a lesbian..
"Don't say that johnny, just hear it."
-George Carlin
@quiksilver180: Exactly. And, in the name of decency, ABC should have had a 7 second delay and their finger on the dump button.
Keaton should have censored herself.
Lacking that, ABC should have censored her.
Diane Keaton is excellent. Any woman who is the inspiration and embodiment of Annie Hall is alright by me.
And I love that she managed to sneak in the F word on Good Morning America. Haw.
@johnperkins21: Just because you say it is OK for kids to hear, doesn't mean that other parents think the same.
Is censorship of bad words against the 1st amendment?
The first amendment was designed to not let the government quash ideas. Dianne Keaton could have presented the same idea without the F word.
Also, if the FCC wants to regulate language on broadcast TV and radio, let them. There are plenty of outlets to send profanity to the masses anyway. Cable TV being one of them. And I don't have a problem with that, because I don't think the FCC should have it's hands in cable TV anyway. Let the FCC regulate their airwaves, and I'd be happy.
I'm a little confused here. I see that they're biased somehow, but against what exactly?