'Family Guy' Creator: Palin's Down Syndrome Episode Outrage 'Partially Politically Motivated'
Nothing is off-limits for Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Fox's “Family Guy” series, well almost anything. That's the message he wanted to convey in an appearance on CNN's April 22 “Larry King Live.”
MacFarlane was asked about an episode, originally aired on Feb. 14, which showed one of the characters, Chris Griffith, out on a date with a female with Down Syndrome, which she said her dad was an accountant, and “my mom is the former governor of
However, Palin reacted on the Feb. 16 broadcast of Fox News Channel's “The O'Reilly Factor” by asking why “Family Guy” would stoop to such a level.
“This world is full of cruel, cold-hearted people who would do such a thing,” Palin said. “Look. I look at Trigg and he is going to face things as special needs children will be facing much more difficult than we ever will. So why make it tougher on the special needs community? When is enough enough? When are we going to be willing to say some things just aren't really funny?”
King asked MacFarlane to react, who said he wasn't bothered by it and had no remorse.
“No, no. No way was I emotionally scarred. I was able to sleep well at night,” MacFarlane said. “I don't think so. I don't consider myself a hater. I – I'm a fairly optimistic person.”
However, he said he questioned the merits of Palin's response – suggesting it could be partially politically motivated and partially heart-felt.
“I actually do think, you know, as much as I disagree with just about everything that she stands for, I do think at the end of the day probably to some degree – I think it was part political, you know, partially politically motivated and part genuine,” MacFarlane said. “She is a mom. She probably was ticked off on some level but what those percentages are I couldn't tell you.”
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