After several days of reveling in having “the stupidest people mad at me,” comedian and former Inside Amy Schumer writer Kurt Metzger is slightly rolling back his controversial comments on rape. In a new Facebook post published on Wednesday, hours after Amy Schumer disavowed Metzger’s views, Metzger apologized — to a point. Basically, Metzger is not sorry for what he said, but he’s sorry he didn’t say it more nicely. Admitting to being “as inflammatory as possible with my language,” Metzger insists he is “not a ‘rape apologist.’” He writes: “If my disjointed swatting at biplanes like King Kong confused and hurt reasonable people who agree with me, I apologize. It was never my intent to antagonize victims or their supporters. My defensiveness came from feeling deliberately misunderstood … I stand by the points I made, but I sincerely apologize for using inflammatory language to make them.”
Metzger first stepped into controversy when he took issue with Upright Citzens Brigade’s banning a male comic from its events after the comic was accused of allegedly raping multiple female comics. In a handful of Facebook posts, Metzger, among other things, cast doubt on the allegations and criticized sexual assault survivors who do not report the crimes against them to the police. “If you are raped by Bill Cosby you and you didn’t go to the cops I get it. You were scared etc etc. I give you credit. If a fat improv open mic kid with a fucking jew fro did it you are full of shit,” he said. In his latest post, however, Metzger denies pressuring survivors. He writes: “I did not ‘yell at victims to go to police.; They are VICTIMS. I am yelling at the people who said, ‘Women CAN’T go to the police! They have to work outside the system!’ I think that’s utter bullshit and leads to rapists walking free. It hurts the victims of sexual assault.”
Elsewhere in his lengthy post, despite professing regret for his earlier language, Metzger says he is only “clarify[ing] my rantings” because of the backlash — “since my punishment the mob is howling for is now officially more severe than the one for the actual rapist.” He insists that “None of my venom is for any victims of anything. I wouldn’t blame a victim for ANYTHING … I was talking to the perennial social media mob who, without knowing victim or accused, GLEEFULLY want to be part of social mob justice.”
In a separate post, Metzger also says that Amy Schumer’s comments, wherein she said, “I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger,” were per Metzger’s own instructions after many expressed frustration with Schumer’s silence. Metzger says: “OK also can we enough with the messages blasting Amy when I specifically told her to do exactly what she did?” Elsewhere on Facebook, Metzger told a similar account, saying that Schumer “was gonna say nothing” until “I told her to.”
Despite his walk-back, the firestorm around Metzger has reached unexpected heights. On Wednesday night, as part of a denial that she fired Metzger for his comments, Schumer appeared to reveal that she is no longer making Inside Amy Schumer. She tweeted: “I didn’t fire Kurt. He isn’t a writer for my show because we aren’t making the show anymore. There are no writers for it.” It’s unclear what, if any, link Metzger’s controversy had to the seeming end of the show.
