E! apologizes for Michael J. Fox ‘fun fact’ in its Globes coverage

Viewers of E!’s pre-Golden Globes online red carpet coverage on Sunday may not have caught the channel’s on-screen “fun fact” about Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s diagnosis, but the Twittersphere picked up on it and outrage quickly spread.

During the lengthy pre-show celebrity interviews, E! flashed a series of celebrity fun facts. But one, regarding “The Michael J. Fox Show” star, struck an awkward note. It informed viewers that Fox had been diagnosed with the degenerative nervous system disorder Parkinson’s disease in 1991. Not exactly “fun.”

After a screen-capture of the blurb made the rounds on Twitter, E! quickly issued an apology, stating, “We regret the insensitive classification of Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s diagnosis during our E online live stream. We understand the serious nature of the disease and sincerely apologize.”

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The item in question appeared only during the channel’s online coverage and did not appear on TV. Among those who noticed it was Amanda Lucci, associate social media editor at the Daily Mail, whose tweet got widely circulated.

“This is in no way a FUN fact,” Lucci wrote.

Fox was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy series but was beaten by “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Andy Samberg.

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