CBS CEO Les Moonves refused to fire Spencer Clawson from the reality show, “Big Brother 15,” yet two other contestants were terminated (from their day jobs) for making racial slurs.
On the live feed of a recent episode, Clawson joked how he likes to masturbate to child pornography. “I love it when they’re around 3 or 4 years old,” he said. “My favorite ones are when you can tell they’re in a basement.” He added that it “is my favorite thing there is.”
Moonves’ wife Julie Chen hosts this show. He called it a “social experiment,” claiming his wife “would kill me if I didn’t” watch every show. “What you see there unfortunately is a reflection of how certain people feel in America.”
In 2007, when radio shock jock Don Imus made a racial joke, Moonves had no qualms about firing him. He said Imus “flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people. In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our Company.”
Bottom line: CBS has infinitely more tolerance for those joking about child porn than it does for those who tell racist jokes. Our culture cannot put up with the latter, but it must accommodate those who delight in 3 and 4-year-olds being sexually abused.
