WANDA SYKES - OBAMA DISTANCED FROM SYKES' JOKE

OBAMA DISTANCED FROM SYKES' JOKE

WANDA SYKES has come under fire from representatives for U.S. President BARACK OBAMA after she jokingly suggested at a gala that RUSH LIMBAUGH was a September 11 hijacker.
The comedienne was booked as an entertainer at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on Saturday (09May09), where she had the room in stitches with her skits about Obama.
But a joke suggesting conservative political commentator Limbaugh, who once battled a painkiller addiction, was involved in the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City has been singled out as particularly offensive.
Sykes quipped: "Maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."
And now White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has expressed disapproval at the joke, insisting Sykes should not have made light of the tragedy.
Gibbs says, "I think there are a lot of topics that are better left for serious reflection rather than comedy.
"I think there's no doubt that 9/11 is part of that."
Gibbs also pointed out Sykes was hired by the Association - and not the White House.