‘Aladdin’ & ‘Shrek’ Screenwriter Terry Rossio Apologizes For Defending Anti-Vaxxers By Using N-Word

This holiday weekend was not so great for screenwriter Terry Rossio. The man behind the scripts for films like “Aladdin,” “The Lone Ranger,” three ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, and “Shrek” (for which he was nominated for an Oscar) tweeted something on Friday that made national news and even remotely for good reasons.

In an attempt to defend his stand on anti-vaccinations, Rossio decided to take to Twitter to explain how calling someone an “Anti-Vaxxer” is the equivalent of using hate speech. However flawed his argument may have been, the reason his tweet went viral and Rossio became the subject of such controversy was because he decided to use the n-word as the equivalent.

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His now-deleted tweet read [Editor’s note: We censored the word. He did not.], “My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here). Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a n—er and makes as little sense.”

As you might expect, that tweet didn’t go over well, with people quickly telling Rossio why he shouldn’t equate the n-word with a name people call those who don’t want to vaccinate children.

A couple days later, Rossio took to Twitter yet again to apologize for his choice of words and talk about how he is against hate speech of any kind. “You can’t make a point against hate speech and reference actual words of hate speech,” he explained.

Rossio continued, “As the mistake was mine alone, this apology is also mine alone. A deeply felt apology to all. I continue to stand against hate speech and dehumanizing labels in any form.”

The next film on deck for Terry Rossio is the 2020 “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which just recently began filming.

Here’s Rossio’s full apology:

In a recent Twitter post, arguing against stereotyping and hate speech, I referenced the ‘n-word’ (the actual word) as an example of what not to do. That was a mistake. I am sorry. I now understand that the word has no place in any conversation, ever.

You can’t make a point against hate speech and reference actual words of hate speech. That was insensitive and ignorant. I am immediately deleting the post to remove that toxic word from the internet, where it should never appear in any context.

As the mistake was mine alone, this apology is also mine alone. A deeply felt apology to all. I continue to stand against hate speech and dehumanizing labels in any form.

(3 parts)
In a recent Twitter post, arguing against stereotyping and hate
speech, I referenced the 'n-word' (the actual word) as an example of what
not to do.

That was a mistake. I am sorry.

I now understand that the word has no place in any conversation, ever.

— Terry Rossio (@TerryRossio) November 25, 2018

As the mistake was mine alone, this apology is also mine alone. A deeply
felt apology to all.

I continue to stand against hate speech and dehuhmanizing lables in
any form.

— Terry Rossio (@TerryRossio) November 25, 2018