Bernie Mac Makes Sexist Joke at Barack Obama Event

Bernie Mac (50) offended at least one person in the audience during his surprise appearance Friday night at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Mac did a 10-minute standup routine at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Chicago, where he joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used crude language, which seems to be the norm these days.

Mac made this joke that offended some:

"My little nephew came to me and he said, ’Uncle, what’s the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?’" Mac said. "I said, I don’t know, but I said, ’Go upstairs and ask your mother if she’d make love to the mailman for $50,000.’"

One person in the audience got angry and said the joke wasn’t funny, because it was offensive to women. What most people don’t realize is that most jokes do poke fun at someone, some group, or the person telling the jokes. That’s part of the reason people laugh, when they feel superior to the person who is the butt of the joke. The other reason people laugh is because they know the joke has at least SOME truth in it. Feeling superior to another person is what makes us human beings with egos, and one reason comedians exist.

The man in the audience had paid $2,300 to see Barack Obama, so he demanded "Let’s get Barack on."

Obama tried to make the man feel better by saying:

"We can’t afford to be divided by race. We can’t afford to be divided by region or by class and we can’t afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you’ve got to clean up your act next time," Obama said. "This is a family affair. By the way, I’m just messing with you, man."

That’s some old fashioned politics right there. To get the crowd on your side you unite them against a common enemy, who was in this case Mac, but in most other speeches Obama could have used the name George Bush instead. Despite Mac being a big Obama supporter, Obama threw Mac to the wolves. A spokesperson for Obama, Jen Psaki, said in a statement after the event:

"Sen. Obama told Bernie Mac that he doesn’t condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate."

Before the event Mac was quoted as giving Obama this advice:

"People like rumors. They’re going to say things like you was at the club with Lil’ Kim, and you and Kanye West got into a fist fight. You can’t get upset. You’ve got to keep hope alive."

Good advice. Rumors are free advertising. As for Mac’s sexist joke, there was a movie called Indecent Proposal, which starred Demi Moore, who played a married woman who agreed to have sex with another man for $1,000,000. The movie played across America in 1993, one year after Bill Clinton was elected President. It’s been a long known fact that women will do a lot of things for money: marry, strip, and engage in the OLDEST profession in the world … prostitution. Mac made a joke, and it had some truth to it. Mac wasn’t trying to offend anyone. He thought he was doing Obama a favor. Obama might think about thanking Mac for performing for free, and taking some of the responsibility for putting a comedian onstage who he knew might anger the crowd … unintentionally. All performers follow one simple rule, know your audience, but unfortunately Mac didn’t follow that rule in this performance.

When you combine the type of jokes Mac is known for with an audience thinking in politically correct terms, it’s a recipe for disaster. Event organizers should know better next time. Put a comedian on stage who does humor that isn’t going to anger a politically charged crowd. Next time hire a comedian who will make jokes about George W. Bush, Republicans, and big oil for the Obama audience.

The video above isn’t from the Obama event, it’s just Mac delivering his typical comedic routine.