CNN SUSPENDS ANALYST

CNN has suspended political analyst Roland Martin despite his apologies following an anti-gay comment related to a David Beckham underwear ad broadcast during the weekend’s Super Bowl in America.

Martin was slammed by LGBT rights groups for tweeting: “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!”

Despite two apologies on his website, insisting that his comments were not meant to condone violence against gay people, CNN announced on Wednesday that it had suspended him.

“Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organisation, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being,” said CNN in a statement.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which had criticised CNN for its earlier silence on the matter, welcomed the news.

“CNN today took a strong stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community,” said GLAAD spokesperson Rich Ferraro.

“We look forward to hearing from CNN and Roland Martin to discuss how we can work together as allies and achieve our common goal of reducing such violence as well as the language that contributes to it.”