Jamie Foxx Defends Calling Barack Obama 'Lord and Savior'
Jamie Foxx caused some controversy when he referred to President Barack Obama as "our lord and savior" at the 2012 Soul Train Awards, but the Academy Award-winning actor is defending his actions.
Foxx, 44, drew criticism from the likes of Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California.
Donohue has been vocal about protesting Obama's policies like the HHS Mandate and released a statement calling Foxx's remarks "startling."
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"It just goes to show that even though Obama did not succeed in stopping the oceans from rising (as he promised to do in 2008), he did succeed in convincing Jamie Foxx, and no doubt legions of others, that God exists," Donohue said in the statement.
Warren seemed to share in Donohue's sentiments, saying that Foxx was wrong to issue such a statement that likened the president to Jesus Christ.
"That sent shivers up my spine," Warren told Fox News last week. "There's a word for that – it's called blasphemy. It's wrong."
However, Foxx defended his actions in an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" recently. The actor who got his start doing stand up comedy simply referred to his statements as nothing more than a joke.
"I'm a comic [and] sometimes I think people get a little too tight," Foxx said. "And, it's getting a little tougher for us comedians [because] some people take it and want to make a huge story out of it, but it's a joke."
The initial comments made by Foxx at the Soul Train music awards last month likened his crowd to a church.
"It's like church over here. It's like church in here," Foxx said at the awards show. "First of all, giving honor to God and our lord and savior Barack Obama. Barack Obama." The actor's comment was met with applause and cheers.
