MTV apologies for profanity laced MTV Movie Awards

Peter Facinelli has caused some controversy because of his profanity laced acceptance speech for Best Movie for "New Moon."

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles

After what was reported to be over 100 curse words during Sunday's 2010 MTV Movie Awards, the cable network has issued a statement apologizing for the foul language that wasn't bleeped out during the production.

"The MTV Movie Awards is a live televised event known for irreverent comedy and a party atmosphere where our guests speak more freely than they otherwise might. While we aired the live broadcast with a delay, we were unable to mute every word that some might find objectionable. All of these words will be muted in subsequent airings.

We sincerely apologize to those in our audience who were offended by any objectionable words that might have slipped by for the live airing."

It's unclear what prompted presenters and winners to increasingly swear during their appearances on the live broadcast, but it's possible the integrated ads for Orbit gum may have had something to do with it.  In one spot, Anna Kendrick appeared to be on a fake film set where she swore numerous times while promoting her upcoming movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." The ad ended with a blonde actress from other Orbit commercials reminding users to clean that "dirty mouth" with their product. 

The show also featured short, pre-recorded segments with host Aziz Ansari and guest stars such as Tom Cruise (as his "Tropic Thunder" character Les Grossman), among others, with bleeped out inappropriate language.  It all ended with Peter Facinelli of best movie winner "New Moon" mocking the night with an acceptance speech filled with so many swear words the show's control room couldn't bleep them all out.  It turns out that East Coast feed was broadcast all over the world including Australia where it aired at 4 PM in the afternoon, prime time for MTV's teenage girl audience.  Subsequent airings of the program, including the West Coast feed, removed any unintended swear words.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.