EDDIE GRIFFIN: Having a Real 'N-Word' Wake Up Call

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Eddie Griffin experienced a real "n-word" wake-up call when his raunchy comedy act came to a screeching halt last weekend in Miami.

The 'Undercover Brother' star was booked as the main headliner for Friday night's line-up at the Black Enterprise/Pepsi 14th Annual Golf & Tennis Challenge.

The pint-sized, loud-mouthed funnyman's profanity, racial-slur-laced tirade didn't go over too well with the family friendly sold out audience.

Griffin turned out to be the ultimately show-stopper, literally, when his microphone suddenly "failed" after repeatedly using the 'N-Word.'

Soon after his abrupt silencing, Black Enterprise magazine owner and publisher Earl Graves, came on stage with the plug in his hand and said: "We at Black Enterprise will not allow our culture to go backwards. Black Enterprise stands for decency, black culture and dignity and we will pay Mr. Griffin all that we owe him but we will not allow him to finish the show if that's the way he's going to talk."

Whoa. Talk about theatrics.

Graves received a standing ovation from the sold-out audience, including Rev. Al Sharpton, who preached at the event the following day and applauded Mr. Graves for his strong stance on behalf of Black people.

Black Enterprise spokesperson Andrew Wadium did confirm that Griffins's show was cut short, citing "language restrictions," but did not go into much further detail.

A request for comment from Graves was declined.

Sharpton, on the other hand, didn't hold back in sharing his thoughts with The BV Newswire today. "I was proud and grateful that Earl Graves, Sr. stood up for our people and his readers by pulling the plug on comedian Eddie Griffin who repeatedly used the "N" word at his performance at the Black Enterprise-Pepsi Challenge over Labor Day weekend in Miami."

"It signified that we at National Action Network are not alone in the fight to end the demeaning and racist language that has allowed our people to aid in their own victimization for years," Sharpton, , on the frontlines for the voice of the disenfranchised for the past two decades, continued. "In any other community there are organizations that stand up for the rights of the people such as the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) that monitors the insensitivity and racism against the Jewish community, and my group is no exception."

"In the same way that no comedian or entertainer would get up and call a Jewish person out of their name without their being outrage, we will not allow black people to be demeaned by our own people," Sharpton maintained. "Eddie Griffin has the right to say what he wants to say, but we have the right to protest what he says and will hold everyone to these same standards. I have nothing personal against Mr. Griffin but I will continue to fight tirelessly to end the indecency that is setting us back a hundred years."

"My daughter Dominique was in the audience that night and called me and said 'Dad I witnessed history in the making today" and when she relayed what happened to me I was content that our efforts have not been in vain."

A rep for Griffin could not be reached by deadline.

BV EXTRA: In case you missed it, read all about Rev. Sharpton's war of words with rap lyricist David Banner.