"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane bashed "Duck Dynasty" at the Critics Choice Awards during his acceptance speech for the Louis XIII Genius Award. The event was aired on A&E, the same network where the controversial reality TV series airs.
"Let's not forget I'm being declared a genius on a network that airs 'Duck Dynasty,' a show whose cast members believe hurricanes are created by gay marriage," he said, aiming his criticism at the show's patriarch Phil Robertson's popular stance against gay marriage. He finished his statement with, "I wish I was joking," Inquisitr reports.
MacFarlane's statement may not be based on actual comments made by "Duck Dynasty" stars, but Robertson is openly opposed to homosexuality while MacFarlane is a known LGBT supporter in Hollywood.
Robertson expressed his "anti-gay" views in a GQ magazine interview, which appeared in the magazine's January 2014 issue, and stirred up a major controversy that left the the LGBT community in an outrage. Voicing out his thoughts on homosexuality, he referred to it as a sin and said that a woman is more desirable than a man.
"She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying?" he said. "But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical."
The "Duck Dynasty" patriarch was suspended from the show, but strong public pressure and support from the show's fans caused A&E to reinstate him after nine days. In spite of the issues surrounding Robertson that caused a decline in ratings, the reality TV show continues to be the network's flagship series.
Aside from criticizing "Duck Dynasty" in his acceptance speech, MacFarlane also took a jab at himself. Referring to the Louis XIII Genius Award, he joked, "The word (genius) gets thrown around a lot, which is good because otherwise I probably wouldn't be getting this."
"I don't win a ton of awards, so this is going to look great next to my soccer participation trophy," he added, according to Breitbart.
The creator of "Family Guy" did not miss the opportunity to express his gratitude for those who supported his show.
"I want to thank the people at Fox who years ago took a chance on a quirky little animated show about a bumbling dad and his family - which I saw and then created 'Family Guy,'" he said.
"I'm very grateful," MacFarlane said in his speech. "If my work has made the world even a tiny bit better, I would be incredibly surprised."
