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Abstract
Political satire hosts are no strangers to the power of the curse word to get a point across, but even Samantha Bee acknowledges that she ‘crossed the line’ for referring to Ivanka Trump as a “feckless c**t” for being ‘oblivious’ to the plight of migrant children. Although the word was ‘bleeped’ on the May 30, 2018 telecast of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS, the un-bleeped episode was posted on Facebook. Using the c-word, which is the most-taboo word in the English language and directing it at the President’s daughter was ‘inexcusable.’ Outraged viewers and pundits called for the show’s cancellation and Bee issued an apology in the following episode. That Samantha Bee’s ‘feckless punt’ landed so far out of bounds illustrates the need for restraint when cursing, even when meant humorously. Viewers might forgive a word that is meant to amuse but there is fine line between funny and offensive. This paper examines the frequency and types of offensive words and the humorous intent and target of expletives uttered on Full Frontal, directly before the infamous May 30th episode, immediately after, and 4-6 months later.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Barbara K. Kaye
Barbara Kaye has been researching the uses and effects of profanity on broadcast and cable television programs since 1993. She also studies consumer uses of the Internet, blogs, social media, television and online delivery services for political information. She has co-authored three textbooks, published 75 journal articles and book chapters and has taught in Italy, Austria, and Taiwan. She has twice been awarded a conference fellowship by National Association of Television Programming Executives.