Hawaii student’s Web site supports ‘Jesus’ remark
A 20-year-old Hawaii Pacific University student has received more than 7,000 signatures supporting a petition on his Web site, suckitjesus.com, after a comedian drew criticism for uttering the phrase at the Emmy Awards.
Carlos Uretta, a public relations major, is afraid of the backlash it could generate locally, although he has already been quoted in a national news magazine.
Uretta bought the domain name for $8.75 in response to the reaction to remarks by comedian Kathy Griffin during her acceptance speech Sept. 8 at the Emmys.
Griffin's remarks were expunged from the E! Television broadcast, but she carried the issue to the "Larry King Live" show, which played the unedited version of her acceptance speech:
"A lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. ... "So all I can say is 'Suck it, Jesus.' This award is my god now."
Uretta, a Mahopac, N.Y., native, said he and a couple of friends were sitting around "when we heard these three words. We got a chuckle out of it."
That got Uretta, an atheist, curious to see whether the domain name (suckitjesus.com) was available. When he learned it was, he quickly snagged it and put up a petition to stop what some view as censorship of Griffin, who won an Emmy award for her show "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List."
Uretta spoke to a reporter with Newsweek, which published an article about the Griffin flap, mentioned his Web site and quoted him.
"It came out on the Newsweek print article, which is kind of cool," he said.
Jim Miller, associate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Honolulu, said Griffin conceded to King she did it to shock people and get attention, and that by her own admission she is a "D-list" celebrity.
"Shock is not a good alternative to being successful," said Miller, who called her comments immature. "It's a shame that comedy has become the get-out-of-jail-free card for disrespect."
"All TV uses some form of censorship, and it's called editing," Miller said. "And editing out Griffin's comments was not an act of control; it was an act of good taste."
As for Uretta's Web site, Miller said, "It doesn't look like he wants to argue. It just looks like he wants to provoke."
Uretta's Web site, which had 2,500 signatures on the petition at the time of the Newsweek interview, has gotten more than 7,000 now.
Uretta, using his public relations know-how, had posted to 10 or so blogs.
"Then it started catching," he said. YouTube videos also boosted interest in the site. "The second day, we had 8,000 visitors in one day. We were pretty elated."
Uretta found that most of the comments against censorship were "very kind, very logical."
"On the flip side, mainly from the religious right, they were pretty intense," he said, "attacking me and my family in the afterlife."
He said he has received e-mails and online comments such as, "I'll cut your brains out and put a cross in it."
"I don't think Jesus would appreciate the comments," he said. "But it's all good. The whole point of it was to start a discussion."
As for the domain name, Uretta has had an offer of $475.
He is also capitalizing on the idea with a bumper sticker that says, "Suck It Jesus! Stop the Censorship!" which is being sold for $4.99 on the Web site.
He has sold eight, but none in Hawaii.