Norm Macdonald Just Can't Stop Digging: 'It's Always Bad When You Have to Apologize for an Apology'
Norm Macdonald has apologized for comments he made about Down Syndrome that he made while apologizing for remarks he made about the #MeToo movement.
Appearing on The View, the comedian admitted he said "something unforgivable" during an interview on That Howard Stern Show after suggesting, "You'd have to have Down syndrome to not feel sorry" for sexual harassment victims.
Macdonald was referencing his recent controversial interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he discussed Rosanne Barr and Louis C.K. and said he was glad the #MeToo movement had "slowed down."
The interview led to The Tonight Show canceling a planned appearance from the former Saturday Night Live star.
"It's always bad when you have to apologize for an apology," he told The View, in reference to the Howard Stern interview.
"There used to be a word we all used to say to mean 'stupid' that we don't say anymore," Macdonald said. "And stupidly I was about to say that word and then stopped and thought [about] what's the right word to say. Then I said a different word that was equally offensive."
During the appearance, Macdonald also clarified remarks he made in which he suggested there are few people "that have gone through" what Louis C.K. and Barr had experienced after their careers derailed over sexual misconduct and racism scandals, respectively.
"Of course, people will go, 'What about the victims?' But you know what? The victims didn't have to go through that," he told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I was working for Roseanne when her thing [cancellation of rebooted show] went down, and I called her the next day, and she was crying the whole time I was talking to her," Macdonald told The View.
"I said I can't really talk to you about this because I've never been through anything like this. I know Louis, and he's been through something where he's had everything taken from him, so you should talk to him.
"And then the [interviewer] said, 'What about the victims?' and I said, 'Well the victims haven't gone through this.' I was talking about this particular event. Of course, the victims have gone through worse than that," he added.
Macdonald said he was surprised by the outcry over his comments, including being canceled for Jimmy Fallon's talk show. "I never did anything," he said.
"I don't want to be tossed in with people who did, not crimes but sins, you know? I barely have consensual sex," he said to laughter from the audience and The View panel.
The comedian's new talk show, Norm Macdonald Has a Show, is due to launch on Netflix on September 14.
