Indiana Mom To Netflix: Remove 'R' Word From Comedy Special

An Indiana mother is facing backlash after asking that Netflix remove offensive language from a Tom Segura comedy special. In Segura's comedy special, "Disgraceful," he uses the word "retarded" in reference to people with Down syndrome.

"You can’t say 'retarded' anymore," he said, claiming that he doesn't use the term to describe people. "You didn’t say it like that. You said it to describe an idea, or a situation, you know?"

Alyse Biro posted on Netflix's Facebook page her request for them to remove the offensive language from the show. Biro has a 2-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. Segura saw this and posted it on social media. "Hey Netflix please don't take my special down. That'd be so retarded," Segura said, according to Fox59.

"Once he posted it on his Instagram, I then received hundreds of comments and messages of how I am 'r,' how my daughter is 'r,' how I should kill myself," Biro told WGN Morning News.

One mother named Amanda, who asked Patch not to publish her last name, has a 5-month-old son with Down syndrome. She told Patch that when she heard of the comedy routine, she "was appalled to hear that Mr. Segura thinks that a suitable replacement for 'That is not smart' is 'having an extra copy of the 21st chromosome.'"

Amanda started a petition on Change.org, which beat its goal of 50,000 signatures as of 4:30 Wednesday.

As Amanda considered starting the petition, "I thought about whether to create the petition or not, I looked at my baby, a 5 month old boy. What type of world would I want him to live in? What do I want the world to know about him?" she said.

Amanda told Patch of the immense effort made by those with Down syndrome, adding that "2018 is no place for a comedian to make a mockery of the work this community has done."

"The words used in this program are wrong, offensive and by definition is hate speech against the Down syndrome community. As a parent to a child with Down syndrome, I worry daily about the stereotype surrounding Down syndrome and what that will mean in the future for my son as he makes his place in the world," the petition says.

The request, according to the Change.org page, is threefold:

• Remove the anti-down syndrome rhetoric from the show
• take the anti-disability sketch out of the trailer for the show
• issue a public apology for perpetuating hate speech and stereotype to the Down syndrome community

The petition web page begins, "In the Netflix Original comedy 'Disgraceful' by Tom Segura, members of the Down syndrome community were appalled to find Mr. Segura suggesting replacing the words 'that is retarded' or 'that is not smart' with the words 'that idea has an extra copy of the 21st chromosome.'"

Biro was featured on A&E's "Born This Way" in 2017:

"My son, and everybody with Down Syndrome spend their entire lives in a world filled with people saying 'No, you can't' but I am here to stand and say with almost 50,000 of my friends that 'YES, THEY CAN,'" Amanda said.

Article image Troy Conrad / Netflix