AFLAC Fires Comic Gilbert Gottfried

March 15, 2011 – Comic Gilbert Gottfried's humor has been known to rub some people the wrong way, but a recent remark about the tragedy in Japan has cost Gottfried the job as the voice of the AFLAC Insurance duck.

AFLAC officials fired Gottfried on Monday for several jokes poking fun of the Japanese and earthquakes and tsunami waves he broadcast from his Twitter account over the weekend. Gottfried was to voice of the AFLAC duck since the popular ads first appeared in 2000. His voice was not used in commercials airing in Japan, where AFLAC generates about 75 percent of the insurer's annual revenue. But AFLAC officials severed their relationship with the comic.

Among jokes Gottfried reportedly published on his Twitter account over the weekend were: "Japan is really advanced. They don't go to the beach. The beach comes to them." And: "Japan called me. They said 'maybe those jokes are a hit in the U.S., but over here, they're all sinking,'"

Gottfried issued an apology a day after being axed by AFLAC.

"I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my attempt at humor regarding the tragedy in Japan," Gottfried said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "I meant no disrespect, and my thoughts are with the victims and their families."

Thousands of Japanese were killed and are missing after a magnitude 8.9 struck northern Japan early Friday morning followed by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in central Japan several hours later.

Federal officials on Friday issued tsunami warnings along the entire West Coast from northern California to Alaska with tsunami caution issued for southern California. Four people reportedly were killed after being swept out to sea by large waves in Crescent City, California after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck northern Japan early Friday morning, killing at least a thousand and creating several tsunamis, which contributed to the localized destruction. A second earthquake registering a magnitude 6.6 also struck central Japan several hours later.

Federal officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the tsunami waves dissipated greatly as they rapidly traveled across the Pacific Ocean and caused only a moderate tidal increase in Hawaii. Although Hawaii survived relatively unscathed, many coastal residents in California, Oregon and Washington reportedly evacuated their homes in anticipation of the worst. If a large wave did strike the West Coast, or anywhere else homes would need flood insurance and landslide protection to ensure damages are covered.

Written by Taylor Clothier