A Hollywood producer who posted a graphic video showing a person wearing “Make America Great Again” hat being shoved into a woodchipper and blood being spewed out has apologized for the post.
Jack Morrissey has worked on a number of well-known movies, including 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake. He’s currently listed as the executive producer of “The Good Liar,” which is due out this year.
Following the Jan. 18 incident between Covington Catholic High School students, many of whom were donning so-called “MAGA” hats, and a group of Native American, anti-Trump activists, Morrissey took to Twitter to say he thought Trump supporters should be murdered.
“#MAGAkids go screaming, hats first, into the woodchipper,” Morrissey wrote.
Attached to the post was a short video showing a body being shoved into the woodchipper and coming out as blood on the other end.
Morrissey claimed that he meant the gruesome video, one of many calls for violence against Trump supporters, as satirical.
In a follow-up tweet issued just before he locked his account from public view, Morrissey wrote: “Yesterday I tweeted an image based on FARGO that was meant to be satirical—as always—but I see now that it was in bad taste,” Morrisey wrote. “I offended many people—My sincerest apologies. I would never sincerely suggest violence against others, especially kids. Lesson learned.”
On Monday, he told The Wrap: “It was something that I did not give any thought to. It was just a fast, profoundly stupid tweet. … I would throw my phone into the ocean before doing that again.”
Morrissey’s initial reaction came as a slew of activists, lawmakers, reporters, and others reacted to a short video clip from Washington that claimed to portray the students showing racial animus against Nathan Phillips, a Native American, anti-Trump activist.
Don’t tell me this is THEE Jack Morrissey. “Famed” Disney producer Morrissey?
Dear Lord…
– Sarah Palin pic.twitter.com/XxX28AxBpQ
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) January 21, 2019
But full video footage of the encounter shows Phillips as the instigator, approaching the students and banging a drum loudly in the face of one, who showed no reaction other than standing still and smiling. What’s more, Phillips’s claim that the students chanted “build the wall,” circulated widely by media outlets, was not substantiated by the video footage, which also showed a member of his group displaying racial animus himself against the group, telling them to “go back to Europe” and saying they “stole our lands.”
Asked whether he had changed his mind about the students following the full video footage shedding new light on the incident, Morrissey claimed he hadn’t had time to research the situation.
“I have seen tweets from both sides feeling disappointed that the mainstream media went this way or that way. But I haven’t had the headspace to take the time to watch all the videos,” he said.
Disney has not commented on the situation.
Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was among those reacting to Morrisey’s shocking post, saying: “Don’t tell me this is THEE Jack Morrissey. ‘Famed’ Disney producer Morrissey? Dear Lord …”