Everyone was pretty much squared firmly against Sandra Bernhard’s supposed comments that she thought staunch pro-life VP candidate Sarah Palin, would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” if she visited NY City. Bernhard was dropped from a charity event for a women’s shelter after those very offensive remarks were made public. A spokesperson for the charity, Rosie’s Place, said that “we don’t think violence against women is a laughing matter.”

The only problem is, Bernhard said she didn’t say “rape” at all in regards to Palin and that she didn’t make those specific remarks. She’s pretty vague about what she did exactly say, though, and sort-of admits it was on that topic without that particular wording. If she wants to show the public that she wasn’t out of line it seems like she needs to produce some kind of video or audiotape.

Not true, says Bernhard, who is speaking out now because of the shelter, Rosie’s Place, and the harm she fears this story has and will cause them.

“I really feel bad for Rosie’s place,” she told Huffington Post Thursday afternoon. “It was definitely manipulated by whoever put this out there to begin with.”

So what happened during her show in DC? She said:

“I always contemporize my show and open with something of the moment. It so happens we are in the middle of a highly charged political time. And I’m a woman. And I’m concerned not only for myself but for my daughter and the future of all young women, specifically with Sarah Palin and her stance on reproductive rights.

“Being a comic, you go of on these really funny stream of consciousness tangents. So what I said, only funnier, was ‘are you willing to have the experience of getting raped and then keeping your child?’ Only I said it much funnier, and more fluidly. I never once said gang rape. Actually I never said rape. Of course what I said was outrageous, it’s insane, and I’m completely unapologetic about it.”

[From The Huffington Post]

The Huffington Post does include one firm piece of evidence on Bernhard’s side, and perhaps the quote that got so badly misconstrued. The Washington Post gave Bernhard’s performance a great review, and wrote “Bernhard declares in the D.C. Jewish Community Center that if Palin were to step onto her Manhattan turf, ‘I’ll tear her apart like a Wise natural kosher chicken.’”

That’s a lot more palatable and understandable. If that’s all she said it should be more widely reported so that whatever career she has left isn’t ruined by this false story. It would help her case if she was a lot more certain about what she did actually say, though.

Controversial comedian/actress Sandra Bernhard has been uninvited to a benefit show for a Boston area women’s shelter after her comments on Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Bernhard, who has never shied away from questionable language or comic material, was riffing on Palin’s conservative views on abortion and took things way too far.

Sandra Bernhard’s recent cracks about Gov. Sarah Palin are no laughing matter, according to a Boston women’s shelter.

Officials at Rosie’s Place cut the comedian as a headliner from an annual benefit after she joked that Palin would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” if she ever visited New York City.

Bernhard made the joke last month at a one-woman show in Washington shortly before the Republican vice presidential hopeful hit NYC to campaign. (She also criticized Palin for opposing abortion rights.)

Rosie’s Place public relations director Leemarie Mosca said many women at the shelter have been victims of violence, and “we don’t think violence against women is a laughing matter.”

Added Mosca, “Right now, our main focus is our event and making sure the event is a success,” Mosca told the AP. “And for us, that means not including Sandra Bernhard at this time.”

On her Web site, Bernhard said the gang-rape joke was part of a larger piece from her show about “racism, freedom, women’s rights, and the extreme views of Gov. Sarah Palin – a woman who doesn’t believe that other women should have the right to choose.”

Said the comedian: “I certainly wish Gov. Palin no harm – I’d just like her to explain to me how she can hold such outrageous views … and then go back to Alaska.”

[From Us Weekly]

Bernhard has always been one of those extreme-style comedians and personally, I’ve never found her all that funny. It seems like her act has always been based on her ability to shock the audience, and that’s about it. No wonder she and Madonna were best buddies. While I’m not a fan of Palin’s conservative social views, I think Bernhard’s comment was out of line and not remotely funny – which is an even worse charge to a so-called comedian. Joking about gang rape probably isn’t such a smart move at a benefit for a women’s shelter, so it makes sense that the Boston organization wouldn’t want her there.

Sandra Bernhard is shown at the 2008 Trevor Project New York Gala on 6/30/08. Credit: Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos