Stage Act and Client Work Should Have Stayed Separate
Did comedian Gilbert Gottfried remember or even know that his insurance client Aflac serves a lot of Japanese companies? Or, could he just not resist the urge to make his jokes more?
After nine years working for Aflac, Gottfried was fired for making several jokes about the earthquake on his Twitter account. He quickly removed them and apologized, but the damage had been done. When you insult the largest client your client serves, an apology doesn’t always work.
Diarrhea of the microphone or in this case Twitter account cost Gottfried some very lucrative income. A job he had for over nine years.
He claims Aflac knew what kind of comedian he is – he writes tasteless jokes. He is known for telling lewd and insensitive jokes. Fine, but he crossed the line when he made jokes too soon about one of the most devastating catastrophes in over 30 years for that country.
They replaced him faster than he could say “Aflac!”
Outwardly, he doesn’t appear to be upset over it as he hawks his latest book. He did take offense that the media called his Twitter entries “comments” and “remarks” instead of jokes. He feels that was the major difference. Still, he has learned as many other entertainers have learned, what he says or does on stage should never translate as acceptable for his clients’ reputation.
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