Early Friday morning, Pattis
tweeted a link to a blog
post entitled, “Who Owns The Language?,” aimed at destigmatizing his use of the racial slur.
“I had basketball shorts on beneath my suit. I dropped my drawers, a lawyer in a suit trouserless, a calculated risk designed to shock,” Pattis’ blog post read. “I ended with a routine I had done before, reworking George Carlin’s bit about the seven dirty words into a take down of the sanctified identities we must now refer to only with reverence lest we offend. I chose my words carefully, like Carlin dropping the ‘f’ bomb to shock sensibilities in the name of good sense, I uttered words designed and intended to offend women, the disabled, gays, transgender folk, and, yes, people of color.”
Pattis went on to challenge the societal notion of being “woke,” or alert to injustice in society, including racism.
“In a recent stand-up routine in East Haven comedy competition I commented on Joe Rogan’s removing a series of his podcasts from Spotify because the ‘n’ word appeared in them,” Pattis said. “It is ridiculous that we give words such power. So I said, in that gig, that I wanted to make sure my performance was never shown on YouTube. I dropped the ‘n’ word. The audience gasped. A boundary had been crossed, shattered, mocked. And no one was hurt. Fancy that.”
‘Woke Elite’
Throughout the blog post, Pattis takes aim at the public’s reaction to the racial slur. Pattis attempted to highlight a double standard, alleging several Black comics also used the N-word during their performances.
“I didn’t have permission to use the ‘n’ word, they said,” Pattis wrote.
He denied being a racist nor a misogynist. Instead, he self-identified as a misanthrope, or a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society. He concluded his blog post declaring the need for comedy amid a political backdrop that’d been “reduced to farce” before again taking aim at those considered societally aware.
“The woke elite are much in need of ridicule and comedic take down; so are the semi-literate half-wits who rally around them,” Pattis wrote. “So if you are offended by use of the ‘n’ word in that comedic skit consider the possibility that the joke is at your expense.”
When reached for comment Friday, Pattis responded to the Connecticut Law Tribune by providing a sole link to his blog post.
History of Controversy
As word of Pattis’ performance continued to spread, Hartford community activist group Black Lives Matter 860 took to Twitter
seeking additional information about Pattis.
With the
Connecticut Judicial Branch Statewide Grievance Committee unable to confirm or deny the existence of a complaint until probable cause of misconduct is found, only time will tell if Pattis’ performance might spawn an ethics case.
But Pattis seemed to think the bit may already be under review.
“I recognized in the crowd a person who once tried to grieve me in licensure proceedings for being racially insensitive,” Pattis noted in his Friday blog post. “Something tells me she didn’t attend to enjoy a night of entertainment.”
Pattis represents far-right radio show host Alex Jones in a defamation
lawsuitfiled against him by families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Meanwhile in August 2020, the estate of one of Pattis’ clients, Fotis Dulos,
sued the trial attorney.
As trustee of Dulos’ estate, Hartford attorney Mark Dean filed the lawsuit seeking to recover the bulk of a $250,000 retainer paid to Pattis’ firm after Dulos’ died by suicide while facing a murder charge in his wife’s disappearance.
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