Two days after alerting concerned parents that it was “working on addressing this issue,” Nickelodeon has rolled out a (slightly) more substantial statement regarding the Jason Biggs controversy:
The offensive comments made by Jason Biggs last week on his personal twitter account do not reflect our company’s views or values, and we condemn them. Nickelodeon does not support or condone the use of graphic or vulgar language on any of our platforms. It was our mistake to link from our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles twitter feed to Jason’s personal twitter account, and we quickly corrected our error. We also insisted Jason use better judgment and discretion in public communications while affiliated with our brand.
It appears from the “while affiliated with our brand” language, then, that Biggs retains his business relationship with Nickelodeon, but the kids’ cable network has put Biggs on notice. But how closely, exactly, is the network paying attention to ensure that Biggs “use better judgment”?
Parents were shocked to find that Nickelodeon was providing direct links to Biggs’ twitter feed via its @TMNTMaster account, giving children one-click access to a stream of vile and sexually explicit tweets (cataloged here), many including photos. A tweet sent out by Nickelodeon under the TMNTMaster account on September 1, three days following Biggs’ tweets about Paul and Janna Ryan, has been pulled from Twitter, but an earlier tweet linking to @JasonBiggs remains live as of Tuesday afternoon.
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https://twitter.com/TMNTMaster/status/231610035191558144
Biggs’ personal account has been silent since Thursday, although the tweets targeting the Ryans have been deleted.
In all, it’s quite a tepid response, considering the outrage that has led parents to put pressure Nickelodeon’s advertisers and boycott the channel. Is the network’s response sufficient?
@Nickelodeontv What is taking so long to fire Jason Biggs?
— CatsBreath (@SandFostcat) September 4, 2012
https://twitter.com/BrioandSeb/status/243104205173293056
https://twitter.com/kfcochran/status/243102642241409024
Twitchy will continue to follow the story as it develops.
Related:
American Idiot: Pig-Maher-in-training Jason Biggs sends out sick tweets about Paul and Janna Ryan; Update: Deletes tweets
American Idiot 2: Jason Biggs knocks Christians; targets Ann Romney and Janna Ryan with vile tweets
Pressure mounting for Nickelodeon to throw the pie at American idiot Jason Biggs
Jason Biggs’ wife laments death of free speech
Jason Biggs dismisses his anti-Christian and misogynist filth with ‘I put my dick in a pie’
American Weasel: Jason Biggs quietly deletes vile tweets about Ann Romney and Janna Ryan
Nickelodeon now including Jason Biggs’ Twitter handle in promotions
Hey Nickelodeon, how’s that anti-bullying campaign going?
Parents put pressure on Nickelodeon’s advertisers
The wit and wisdom of Nickelodeon’s Jason Biggs
Jonah Goldberg: ‘this Jason Biggs buffoon deserves firing far more than the Yahoo News Director guy’
Jason Biggs’ wife: You people criticizing my husband are scary, humorless bullies
Sears and Kmart disavow Jason Biggs’ filthy tweets; ‘We do not condone this behavior’
Nickelodeon responds to national outrage: ‘We understand your concern’ about Jason Biggs
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