feuds

Denis Leary Makes an Autistic Statement

by Celebuzz on Oct. 15, 2008 10:19 AM / Leave a Comment

Rescue Me actor Denis Leary might need some rescuing himself, thanks to a passage in his new book, Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid.

The abrasive but normally charitable funnyman launches into a tirade about autistic children in the tome and has already drawn flak for it, the New York Post reports.

Leary writes, "There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks...to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you—yer kid is NOT autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

The Autism Society of America was quick to label Leary's claim "ridiculous," adding that his "remarks reflect the same misconceptions of autism being caused by bad or unemotional parenting that were held over 50 years ago."

But Leary should really worry about Jenny McCarthy's reaction to the passage. The crude-mouthed actress—whose seven-year-old son, Evan Joseph, is autistic—has been on a campaign to link rising autism rates to child vaccination.

And there's no telling what kind of horrors McCarthy could unleash on those who get on her bad side.