Michele Bachmann, Jimmy Fallon: 'Lyin' Ass Bitch'

I am so disappointed in Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots in particular.

I saw the show last night and Fallon interview Michele Bachmann, but I wasn't paying attention to the music The Roots played for her entrance. As I wrote more than 12 hours ago, the interview was very light-hearted.

Jimmy Fallon treated Bachmann with respect. He made no inappropriate remarks. I enjoyed the segment.

I had no idea that The Roots took such a very disrespectful hit at the congresswoman.

From WCCO:

Jimmy Fallon’s house band the Roots didn’t have a warm welcome for Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann when she appeared on the NBC show early Tuesday.

As Bachmann strode on to the stage at Fallon’s “Late Night,” the show’s band played a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song called “Lyin’ Ass B****.”

The song begins with a distinctive “la la la la la la la la la” refrain — the only words audible before Bachmann, smiling and waving to the audience, sat down.

The song itself, about a relationship gone wrong, isn’t political. Among its cleanest lyrics: “She always says she needs you, but you know she really don’t care.”

...Bachmann’s campaign had no immediate comment.

Fallon joked on Twitter that Roots bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson was grounded. The show itself didn’t have any comment.

This really sucks.

I like Late Night with Jimmy Fallon because it's not typically so mean-spirited.

Questlove, drummer for The Roots, sort of apologized for the really offensive insult.

From ABC News:

The drummer for the house band on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” apologized sort of for his decision to play ”Lyin’ Ass Bitch” when Rep. Michele Bachmann appeared on the talk show Monday night.

“The performance was a tongue-in-cheek and spur of the moment decision. The show was not aware of it and I feel bad if her feelings were hurt. That was not my intention,” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson said in a statement.

As Bachmann, congresswoman and GOP presidential contender, walked across the stage to sit next to Fallon Monday night, house band the Roots played a refrain from the song written by Fishbone.

Though the lyrics refer to a woman as a “slut trash can bitch,” the band sang the “la, la, la” of the refrain.

The band’s drummer sent a tweet prior to the show clueing viewers in on the song choice, writing: “late night walkon song devotees: you love it when we snark: this next one takes the cake. ask around cause i aint tweeting title.”

Later, he retweeted a fan’s reaction: “perfect entry song for her.”

As a fan of the show and nightly viewer, this really pisses me off.

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if a female Democratic member of the House and presidential candidate were greeted that way?

I guarantee it wouldn't happen.

Quest, what the hell?

He didn't only diss Bachmann. He dissed women.

Jimmy Fallon always says that he wants his show to be fun. He doesn't want to alienate anyone. That usually is the approach the show takes.

Well, I feel very alienated. It was an extremely classless move.

I don't support Bachmann, but good grief, give her some respect. She was a GUEST. That's no way to treat a GUEST.


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UPDATE: Michele Bachmann was not pleased about the way she was treated when she appeared as a GUEST on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Bachmann gave her reaction to the insult on Twitter.

Big Hollywood has the screen shot of her Tweet.

MICHELE BACHMANN: When a sitting United States Congresswoman, current Presidential candidate, mother of five, and foster mother of 23 is humiliated on your television show, a snark-free apology is probably the best way to deal with the situation. It will be interesting to see if Fallon addresses the incident on his show tonight.

Fallon responded on Twitter.

JIMMY FALLON: I'm honored that @michelebachmann was on our show yesterday and I'm so sorry about the intro mess. I really hope she comes back.

JIMMY FALLON: Actually it was a really fun interview. She helped me with my Minnesota accent. (I still sound Irish.) http://bit.ly/vb4LCe

Fallon did not address the insult on his show Tuesday night.

Nothing at all was said about it.

I think that was a mistake. The intro song for Michele Bachmann selected and played by The Roots was so out of line that I think Fallon should have made an on-air apology, short and sweet, but at least something.

Of course, Questlove is an Obama supporter and so is Fallon. That's no secret. But to treat a GUEST with such disrespect is really inexcusable. This is a character issue. Addressing the matter on the show would have gone a long way to show that Fallon and The Roots and the show's staff sincerely regretted treating Bachmann so horribly.

This has nothing to do with political affiliation. It's all about showing respect for a GUEST, for another human being. Saying that Bachmann is a "lyin' ass bitch" was beyond the pale. It was terribly cruel, not what I've come to expect from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Why was she booked on the show if they can't stand her?

Invite Rachel Maddow again instead.

I've read political tweets from the show's writers. Maybe the staff thinks that the overwhelming majority of their viewers agree with Questlove and found the cruelty amusing.

I would hope that even Bachmann's political opponents would consider her introduction on Monday's Late Night to be disgraceful.
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UPDATE: NBC apologizes to Bachmann for Fallon song choice

GOP Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann received an apology from an NBC executive after an off-color song was played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night," her spokeswoman said late Wednesday.

The Minnesota congresswoman received a personal letter from NBC's vice president for late night programming, Doug Vaughan, a day after she appeared on the show. As Bachmann walked onstage, the show's band had played a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song entitled "Lyin' Ass B----."

Vaughan wrote that the incident was "not only unfortunate but also unacceptable," Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told The Associated Press. She said Vaughn offered his sincerest apologies and said the band had been "severely reprimanded."

...One of Bachmann's congressional colleagues, New York Democrat Nita Lowey, had called on NBC to apologize for its "insulting and inappropriate" treatment of its guest.

I wonder what "severely reprimanded" means.

Probably something like, "Guys? Try not to do that again, OK?"

Whatever, all the apologists on the Left claiming Bachmann was wrong to make an issue of the incident look pretty stupid.

At least Democrat Nita Lowey had the decency to call on NBC to apologize. It really was a no-brainer.

As Doug Vaughan wrote, the song choice was "not only unfortunate but also unacceptable."

It was also unfortunate and unacceptable that it took NBC so long to apologize to Bachmann.

I suppose the network was getting a lot of negative feedback and was shamed into action.

A forced apology is better than none I guess.

Or, maybe someone at NBC genuinely has a sense of decency and knows the difference between right and wrong.