Adam Carolla is “not f—ing apologizing” for his Twitter take (“How many of you pussy’s [sic] got played?”) on coronavirus deaths and societal shutdowns. He’s especially fed up with the restrictions in Los Angeles, where Carolla lives and podcasts from, which he said “is like East Berlin at this point.”
Carolla, the father of 14-year-old twins, wants his kids back in school and the economy opened up. The “Man Show” alum believes the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions that could result in comorbidity when mixed with COVID-19 need to be cautious — but he wants the restrictions on the young and the healthy lifted.
“I’m talking about this f—ing hysteria that we’ve turned into. We’ve turned into hysterics,” Carolla said on his Thursday episode of the “Adam Carolla Show” podcast. “It’s not gonna work big picture. It scares the s— out of the kids.”
“Turns out the people dying from covid are old or sick or both,” Carolla tweeted two days ago. “How many of you pussy’s got played ? and who’s going to get played the next time.”
“No one appreciates being called a ‘pussy.’ I get it,” Carolla said on this morning’s “ACS” podcast. “And also, I think the backlash has to do with ostensibly being right in many cases.”
“Now I’m trending because I’m an asshole,” he said.
“I stand by everyone being pussies,” Carolla said, though he admitted the tweet was “callous” — a word introduced by sound effects guy “Bald” Bryan Bishop.
“Tough s—,” Carolla said. “We’re living in a callous world. You guys wanna f—ing close down society, you’re gonna get some callous tweets. That’s how it works.”
“I don’t give a s—,” the comedian continued. “Basically, you can’t cancel me. I’m already canceled. I’m not working in that world anyway. I’m not doing sitcoms.”
At a certain point, Carolla’s “News Girl” Gina Grad chimed in with a jocular: “This is a terrible apology, Adam.”
“I’m not f—ing apologizing to any of you assholes,” he replied. “And by the way, you don’t accept apologies. That’s what I’ve figured out from these people anyway.”
“Look, here’s the deal. You will save more people if you lock everything down — possibly,” Carolla summed up his position. “I’m not saying wearing a mask, locking down, closing businesses, closing schools — I’m not saying we wouldn’t save people. We’d definitely save people. We make calculations as a society…What is a risk vs. reward?”
Below is Carolla’s tweet that got him trending:
Turns out the people dying from covid are old or sick or both. How many of you pussy's got played ? and who's going to get played the next time.
— Adam Carolla (@adamcarolla) September 1, 2020
Among those criticizing Carolla’s take were Bradley Whitford, George Takei, Colin Hanks, Christopher Titus and Valerie Bertinelli, among others both famous and non-famous.
Listen to Thursday’s “Adam Carolla Show” audio (and watch the video, which kicks on at a certain point) below via YouTube. Carolla’s guest on the show, which taped on Wednesday, was comedian Greg Fitzsimmons. He’s a regular guest on the podcast.
Carolla also took listener calls, both critical and supportive, regarding his tweet.