Following an uproar over the decision by Jimmy Fallon's Late Night house band, The Roots, to play Fishbone's 1985 song "Lyin' Ass Bitch" as guest Michele Bachmann walked onstage Monday night, NBC late-night chief Doug Vaughan has issued an apology to the Republican presidential candidate. The incident, he said, was "not only unfortunate but also unacceptable." He assured Bachmann that the band had been "severely reprimanded." (Neither Bachmann, Fallon, nor anyone else onstage appeared to recognize the number when it was played.) Earlier, Fallon himself issued an apology to Bachmann, saying that he was "honored" to have had her on his show. "I'm so sorry about the intro mess," he said on Twitter. During an interview on Fox News Channel on Wednesday, Bachmann asserted that the network would have been quick to apologize had Fallon's band played the same song when Michelle Obama appeared on the show. "This is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite," she asserted. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter , bandleader Questlove maintained, "The performance was a tongue-in-cheek and spur of the moment decision. The show was not aware of it and I feel bad if her feelings were hurt. That was not my intention."

24/11/2011