Hey, Remember When NBC Thought Calling Someone a 'Slut' Was Hilarious?

March 10th, 2012 12:00 PM

As Andrea Mitchell began an interview with left-wing activist Sandra Fluke on the March 2 edition of her MSNBC show, the NBC correspondent denounced Rush Limbaugh for having, "attacked her [Fluke] with language that we will not repeat on the air."

Well, it turns out that Andrea Mitchell thought use of the word "slut" – one of Limbaugh's offending remarks – was perfectly fine when it was to get laughs for a network sitcom. Back on the September 30, 2010 episode of NBC's 30 Rock, Mitchell made a cameo playing herself and called Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon a "slut" following rumors of an office romance. [View video after the jump]

Mitchell wasn't the only NBC News personality in the scene, her nasty remark was set up by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, a comedic genius in his own mind who has made regular guest spots on the show. Mitchell and Williams proceeded to laugh and fist bump each other after the insult.  

The following day, Mitchell's comedic appearance was played and replayed on MSNBC.

While 30 Rock is fiction, and the comment was made in jest, the fact that Mitchell agreed to use her position as a journalist to promote such language as humor certainly undermines her moral authority in condemning Limbaugh. That goes for Williams as well, who has repeatedly excoriated Limbaugh's "crude tirade" against Fluke.