Strange Fruit #115: Family Guy's Kirker Butler says "Nothing is Off Limits"

Comedy writer Kirker Butler has written for Family Guy and the Cleveland Show, but his most recent work is a satirical novel called “Pretty Ugly,” about a Southern family whose child is involved in beauty pageants. Butler grew up in Ohio County, Kentucky, where his mother was in charge of planning the annual pageant. And though the novel is set in Kentucky, and the family is dysfunctional, Butler says he isn't worried about offending folks from his home state. "It comes from a place of love," he explains. "I think Kentuckians have a pretty good sense of humor about themselves." We talk to Butler about his TV work, and that always-elusive line between edgy and offensive. He said the Family Guy writers benefit from the show's reputation for nothing-is-sacred humor. "We always kind of took the attitude that nothing is off-limits, and we would go after everyone equally." In this week's Juicy Fruit, we talk about a recent police shooting in Louisville, and why Police Chief Steve Conrad put so much public emphasis on the fact that both the officer and the man he shot were white. We also talk about Janelle Monáe's new video for her song, "Yoga," and her simple but epic takedown of a dude on twitter who demanded she "stop being so soulful and be sexy." We also cover Madonna kissing Drake at Coachella, and how it reminds us all of the importance of consent—even if you're "Madonna, b****."