In 2011, Gottfried got in trouble again with a series of jokes on Twitter about the tsunami in Japan. “Japan is ahead of the rest. They don’t go to the beach, the beach comes to them,” he tweeted. As a result of the jokes, he lost a commercial job as the voice of an insurance company’s mascot, a duck.
Speaking the voice of a fictional bird was no stranger to Gottfried. He became famous for playing parrot Iago in the English version of Disney cartoon Aladdin, the sidekick of villain Jafar. In addition, Gottfried played bit parts in Hollywood films such as Beverly Hills Cop II in Problem Child.
Gottfried has never regretted his harsh jokes. According to the comedian, it was precisely in harrowing situations that people were most in need of such ice-breaking jokes: “In my view, comedy and tragedy always live in the same house.”
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