August 23, 2020 | Arts / Entertainment

Randy Rainbow called out for problematic tweets

Randy Rainbow is having a very bad week.

The popular YouTube comedian, who has come into his own by creating parody songs and videos skewering Donald Trump, was slammed when several of his old tweets surfaced.

A spreadsheet was created highlighting over 60 (now-deleted) tweets from about 10 years ago. In the posts, Randy targets Black, Latino, Asian, Jewish, transgender and lesbian people as punchlines.

Some examples:

On Thursday, Randy apologized.

“I am incredibly sorry," he told Advocate. "I would never intentionally do anything to hurt anyone. I learned many years ago, over the last decade, that there are things that you must be sensitive about. There are issues that I was not aware of back then. In 2010, we weren’t anywhere near where we are now.”

He added: “The comedy landscape was completely different back then. This kind of edgy shock comedy was not only acceptable but a prevalent style. I was an aspiring comedian in my 20s working the stages in gay nightclubs where we said the most outlandish, raunchy things we could think of. I was searching for my comedy voice, my persona, and I was emulating styles and jokes of people that I was seeing in the mainstream.

“I’m a gay Jew who was brought up in a very open, accepting family. There is not a racist or intolerant bone in my body. When I say that I have evolved with the times, I mean that my comedy has. I did not need to be taught not to be racist or transphobic because I never was.”

Hmmm. Given his knowledge of Broadway musicals, it's surprising he's never heard of Avenue Q's "Everybody is Racist."