UPDATE: Cake Boss’s Transgender Disaster

[SandraJane]

Cake Boss's Transgender Disaster


On Monday's episode of the TLC family show, a transgender guest star was mocked and later called an "it" on Twitter by one of the show's stars. Maria Elena Fernandez on the fallout.



Jun 12, 2012 10:10 PM EDT


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/12/cake-boss-transgender-disaster.html



Carmen Carrera attends "RuPaul's Drag Race" official Season 4 launch party. (Craig Barritt / Getty Images)


"I tell him, 'That's a man, baby!'"

But it wasn't. It was transgender reality-TV beauty Carmen Carrera, who has been transitioning into a woman and living as one since she finished taping RuPaul's Drag Race in 2010.

The unfortunate quotation belongs to Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro who uttered it during a prank in Monday night's episode of the popular TLC series. Carrera, 27, who has been modeling and appearing in other unscripted fare (ABC's What Would You Do?) agreed to be the punchline, but now completely regrets it.

[GhostTown11]

Wow and she's pretty passable too. How did he clock her?

[SourCandy]

Wow and she's pretty passable too. How did he clock her?

Well from the article he didn't, which was the "joke."

What happened was that it was a "prank" which Carmen did becasue she was told that it was going to promote awareness, ect, and that the guy that was prank'd apparently "took the news well, accepted Carrera, and even drank with her and her husband later." but that was edited out in favor of spinning it as a "You kissed a dude" thing.

Then he later referred to her as "it" in response to a tweet, and since apologized.

I feel bad for Carmen, I definitely think they intended to use her from the start, and didn't really think about her feelings and only apologized when they realized they were in "trouble"

[Elijah3291]

Yeah, I watched that episode and it disappointed me. I mean she comes on the show to help them out, to pull a prank on that guy, and then they call him a dude, or a man, i dont remember which, and then they show that other guy completely grossed out by her.

Although, it was really only I think that one guy who was disrespectful, all of the rest were fine, and called her she, lady etc

[toxicblue]

Whether he apologized afterwards or not, the damage is done, and that's all that people will be seeing. I will never watch Cake Boss again.

[GhostTown11]

As if anyone actually watches that third rate cable show 

[Shana A]

I posted a petition about this show this morning https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,121598.0.html

Z

[Butterflyhugs]

The comments section of the article in the OP is frightening to say the least.

[Butterflyhugs]

I don't see it as frightening. I see it as pathetic and hilarious. I would bet that the vast majority of these idiots wouldn't have the guts to confront anyone face to face. After all, the internet is a wonderful tool for spineless scumbags to spout off their crap with no consequences.

One comment had me cracking up. They were saying something about "PC behavior going too far in the last ten years". Well, GRS has absolutely nothing to do with "PC behavior" (behaving like a personal computer? )

ER-ROR ER-ROR!! DOES NOT COMPUTE!! *begins to smoke & explodes*

Anyway...GRS has been going on for a greater length of time than a decade and has zero to do with "PC behavior". There was also a comment that some dumb skank made about "If I saw IT in the bathroom, I would kick IT'S ass" or something to that effect. First of all, most women wouldn't have a clue one way or the other and even if they did, most wouldn't lay a single finger on anyone. It's easy to talk trash behind the safety of a screenname and a computer screen.

Pathetic.

I agree that the majority of them wouldn't say those things in a face to face situation. And I agree that people often feel emboldened by the Internet's apparent anonymity to say some pretty nasty things.

What I found troubling, I suppose, is that they were even thinking those nasty things in the first place. In particular, those comments taken together were basically advocating for the physical assault of trans people because we are sick and depraved. To me, that is frightening.

[Shana A]

Follow-up: Cake Boss Apologizes to Carmen Carrera

June 15, 2012. 7:44 am • Section: Trans Talk
Posted by: Jillian Page

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/15/follow-up-cake-boss-apologizes-to-carmen-carrera/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro has apologized — sort of — to Carmen Carrera for the dumb prank he used her for in an episode of his show. He has apologized to Carmen and the trans community and says he is thankful for the opportunity to learn from his mistake. Hopefully, he does learn what it means to be a trans person . . .

In the apology on his Facebook page, he says he is a supporter of gay rights, which is all well and good, but I'm hoping he knows the difference between sexual orientation (gay) and gender identity (trans).

Here is what he has said on Facebook:

"I've been trying to connect with Carmen and apologize to her directly, but also think I owe an apology to the entire LGBT community," he wrote on Facebook. "It was absolutely not my intention to upset or offend her, or anyone within the community, and I was wrong to use the words I did. I am a supporter of gay rights and equality, and while I regret this situation and my choice of words, I am thankful to have received this feedback and the opportunity to learn from this mistake. I hope that Carmen accepts my sincere regrets."

---------

Transgender Cake Boss Guest Star Decries "Homophobic Prank," TLC Pulls Episode

Wed., Jun. 13, 2012 5:54 PM PDT by Bruna Nessif

http://www.eonline.com/news/transgender_cake_boss_guest_star/323345

Sorry, Buddy Valastro, we don't think anyone found your joke very funny.

TLC has pulled Monday's episode of Cake Boss after RuPaul's Drag Race star Carmen Carrera, a transgender woman, expressed that she was very unhappy with how she was portrayed on the reality show.

According to the L.A. Times, Carrera felt that producers brought her on the show under false pretenses, making her believe that she would be a role model for the transgender community, but instead fell victim to Valastro's "homophobic prank."

[Flan]

The BS "apology" in all it's glory, Facebook trolls in tote as well.
https://www.facebook.com/BuddyValastro/posts/162301623903161