According to the city, “it took about a minute” to cancel the contest after receiving the lone complaint. Doesn’t get any more pathetic than that.
Danielle Casavant called it poor judgment.
On Monday morning, the Lansing Board of Water and Light announced it was promoting a “Duck Dynasty” look-alike contest at its annual chili cook-off next month.
One of the stars of the popular reality television series, Phil Robertson, sparked controversy last year when he made anti-gay statements in an interview with GQ magazine.
BWL officials apparently were not aware of Robertson’s statements until Casavant — who lives on Lansing’s west side and is a customer of the public utility — sent an email early Monday afternoon to the utility’s social media specialist. Casavant had received a news release that same morning, announcing the first-ever contest.
After receiving Casavant’s email, “it took about a minute to decide to drop the contest,” BWL spokesman Steve Serkaian said in an interview. “We didn’t want any controversy from this matter to detract from what has been a longstanding, family-friendly event whose proceeds are donated to charitable causes.”
At 4:43 p.m. Monday, a few hours after Casavant sent her email, BWL issued an updated statement, saying that it “is committed to diversity and respects community differences, and we regret if the contest offended anyone.”
Casavant said the contest “showed poor judgment on their part.”
“The City of Lansing has come out very publicly promoting equality,” she said. “It seemed hypocritical to do something that glamourizes and promotes the show in any way.”