CNN Suspends Roland Martin

GLAAD called for commentator's removal after anti-gay tweet

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/8/2012 2:53:38 PM

CNN has suspended CNN political analyst Roland Martin after a series of tweets he sent during the Super Bowl on Sunday drew ire from GLAAD who interpreted this statements to suggesting violence against gay people.

In a statement issued Wednesday, CNN said, "Roland Martin's tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being."

Martin's offending tweet was in reference to an H&M commercial starring easy-on-the-eyes soccer star David Beckham: "If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!" it said.

GLAAD tweeting back that "advocates of gay bashing have no place at CNN" and demanded that Martin be removed from the network's air.

Martin appeared on CNN Tuesday night in the network's coverage of the Missouri primary and Colorado and Minnesota caucuses.