This 'fun fact' flashed up on screen during E!'s Golden Globes coverage.
This 'fun fact' flashed up on screen during E!'s Golden Globes coverage.
E! Entertainment has been forced to say sorry to actor Michael J Fox after it ran a "fun fact" about his Parkinson's diagnosis during its Golden Globes coverage.
The network was attempting to liven up the often dreary live footage of celebrities walking down a carpet that forms its pre-ceremonycoverage by peppering it with fun facts about actors in attendance.
A cursory look at Wikipedia would have unearthed such fun Fox factoids as him adopting the initial in his name as an homage to Bonnie and Clyde actor Michael J Pollard, but E! instead went with the snappy but somewhat insensitive: "Michael J Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991".
E! expressed regret over the remark, which aired during its online live stream but not on TV, saying in a statement: "We understand the serious nature of the disease and sincerely apologise."
Fox, who runs a foundation for Parkinson's disease research, was nominated at the awards for best actor in a comedy for his new TV series The Michael J Fox Show.
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Oddly it was not E!'s only disease-based fun fact of the night, with the network later apparently informing viewers: "Robert Redford was stricken with polio as a child."
Elsewhere at the Los Angeles ceremony, British director Steve McQueen's searing slavery epic 12 Years A Slave won the coveted best film award, though David O Russell's Abscam drama American Hustle was the most decorated film of the night, winning three awards.
