After several years of squawking about supplemental insurance in TV commercials, loud actor Gilbert Gottfried is without his cushy job as the Aflac duck. Why, you ask? Because he decided that it was time to crack wise on Twitter about the ongoing earthquake/tsunami catastrophe in Japan.

In a series of Tweets that have subsequently been deleted from his page, GG wrote, “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them,” and “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.'” He followed up on those gems with, “Japan called me. They said “maybe those jokes are a hit in the US, but over here, they’re all sinking.”

That didn’t go over well with the folks at Aflac, which does a significant chunk of its business in Japan. The company released this statement: “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… There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.”

The Hollywood Reporter says that Aflac has launched a nationwide casting call to find someone who can sound like a middle-aged duck.

Gilbert Gottfried Fired as Aflac Duck After Japan Tweets [Hollywood Reporter via AVClub.com]

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