Writers Guild Scribe Apologizes for “Epically Horrible” Joke Gone Wrong Using Lynching Image

The comments under a post in a private WGA Facebook group were made public after one of the administrators flagged a meme as “epically horrible, racist, self-martyring” while the comedy writer in question claims he was just trying to get a laugh about suicide. 

The situation unfolded on Aug. 9 when a writer posted, “Happy 100th day, to all who observe,” as a comment to mark the duration of the WGA strike. Tim Doyle was among the first to comment and the writer, producer and showrunner — known for credits like The Kids Are Alright, Last Man Standing, Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory — responded, “I just got my tree up!” with a black-and-white image featuring a man hanging from a tree in what appears to be a lynching. 

Writer-director-actor Keith Powell (known for playing “Toofer” Spurlock on 30 Rock), one of three admins of the group, immediately called Doyle out for “this epically horrible, racist, self-martyring, vile, clueless, out-of-touch, boneheaded, disturbing and toxic post.” The Facebook post was then shared on X where many notable names, among them Yvette Nicole Brown, called on Doyle to explain himself.  

Powell spoke with THR and says that Doyle let several days pass before posting an apology to the 1,700-member group and sending Powell a private mea culpa. He says the situation is indicative of a larger issue in the industry. “I have absolutely no interest in canceling or taking down Tim Doyle,” Powell explains. “No interest, whatsoever. Why I’m willing to talk about it is because I don’t want to live in a world where the Tim Doyles have been educated and thrived. He is indicative of the people who have risen to the top in the WGA and have decided to ignore, belittle or not even acknowledge other people and writers of color, specifically, because it’s what they’ve been taught. It’s a system that needs to be broken. This incident is an indication of that system and how he’s been able to thrive in that system.”  

He continued:  “They ignore people of color when they say you are doing something culturally insensitive. This is how writers rooms put out things that are culturally insensitive because people in positions of power have been granted immunity and think, if I just ignore it, it will go away.”  

In an interview, Doyle said he was “very sorry” for the post, calling it a failed attempt to find humor in the ongoing strike — at his own expense. “I’m bored at the moment, and I write a lot of jokes. I’m a comedy writer. I was brain dead in that moment, and I picked the wrong piece of clip art to go with a silly joke about killing myself after 100 days on the picket line,” he explained. I Googled the words ‘cartoon man hanging from a tree’ and that’s what came up. I really think this has been a misunderstanding.”

In regard to the delay in apologizing, Doyle said he wasn’t aware of how it landed online because he had logged off for several days after having eye surgery in Beverly Hills. However, several of his friends, people of color, contacted him about the post. It was then he realized how bad he’d “bungled” the joke.  

“My stomach dropped,” he said upon learning. “There’s a part of my brain that, in the spirit of creativity, I don’t always sensor myself quickly enough. My imagination didn’t take me to the place where other people would interpret from that awful drawing. Now I look at it and I get it. Again, I know that seems clueless, but my brain did not go there.” 

Lastly, Doyle wanted to reiterate that his “heart was in the right place” and he apologizes to anyone who took offense to the post. “I didn’t mean to hurt or inflame or anger anybody. I just wanted to add a laugh to the pile of ruminating that we have been doing right now about the strike.”

Powell said he should know better. “A man of his age and stature should know the history of lynching in America. The image he posted so clearly is of a man with his hands tied behind his back. It’s very indicative of showrunners like him doing things in the name of comedy that are horribly insensitive, ugly and toxic and ignoring people when they say this is ugly and toxic. This is what is happening in writers rooms every day.”

The Facebook group maintains a list of rules for behavior and etiquette, and Doyle remains active in the group, with the image considered a strike against him. “It’s three strikes and you’re out rule,” Powell notes. “We told him to please consider what has happened and be considerate and thoughtful about what you post in the future. He agreed.”

A version of this story first appeared in the Aug. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.