E! apologizes to Michael J. Fox for inappropriate ‘fun fact’

E! apologizes to Michael J. Fox for inappropriate ‘fun fact’

E! regrets mislabeling an infographic about the actor's Parkinson's disease diagnosis

While covering the 71st annual Golden Globes awards television special, entertainment channel E!  displayed a number of “fun facts” to viewers of its online coverage. Among them, the “fun fact” that actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative nervous system disorder, in 1991.

The “fun fact” only appeared on the screen for a short moment, but outrage erupted on Twitter, according to the Los Angeles Times.

One Twitter user commented, “So we’ve already gotten the burst pipe AND the awkward ‘fun fact’ about Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s. Go home, Golden Globes, you’re drunk.”

Another user was more to the point, “Just saw: ‘Fun Fact: Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in ’91’ pop up… That’s in NO way a fun fact.”

After the blurb hit the screen, E! issued a quick apology. “We regret the insensitive classification of Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s diagnosis during our E online live stream. We understand the serious nature of the disease and sincerely apologize.”

Michael J. Fox was among the nominees at the awards show. He was nominated for best actor in a comedy series but lost to Andy Samberg for his role in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

 

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