Philly mayor apologizes for ‘Welcome America’ performers’ profanity

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has issued an apology for profanity uttered during the city’s nationally televised Fourth of July concert.

Nutter says comedian Marlon Wayans and hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj were the worst offenders in breaking rules against profanity on July 4 during the concert held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Philadelphia band The Roots did not use any profanity, even though producers used a time delay to drop out part of the band’s performance, Nutter said.

“I understand what happened and why,” he said. “In an abundance of caution, it does appear that there were a couple of blackouts with regard to the Roots performance but, in reality, they did not say any curse words or use any inappropriate language,” Nutter said.

The Roots self-adjusted, said the mayor, but that was not true of all the acts.

“I am certainly very sorry for anyone who have could have been offended, again, recognizing that there were children out on the Parkway or adults who might not have liked certain language,” he said.

The city’s goal is to put on a great concert, Nutter said, promising that it will learn from this year’s experience to make things better in 2015.