Comedian Lisa Lampanelli is embroiled in controversy after using the word nigga in a tweet last week.

She called HBO show Girls creator her “nigga,” accompanied by a photo of the two together.

Lampanelli immediately faced backlash over her use of the word, but has defended herself on the grounds that “nigga” and “nigger” are two different words, and that context matters.

From the Huffington Post:

“The N-word ending in ‘er’ is far different context from the word ending in ‘a.’ Ask any person who knows the urban dictionary, it means ‘friend,'” she said. “And by the way, if I had put the word ending in ‘er,’ that would have been a very derogatory thing about Lena meaning she is less than me, and I view her as very above me. ‘A’ on the end means ‘my friend.'”

…

I won’t stop anytime soon, just because your ass is up on Twitter. I have always used in my act every racial slur there is for Asians, blacks, gays, and Hispanics. To me, it’s acceptable if the joke is funny and if it is said in a context of no hate. It’s about taking the hate out of the word.”

Read more at HuffingtonPost.com

 

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