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GOP Presidential candidate Michele
Bachmann received an apology from an NBC executive after an
off-color song was played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon's
"Late Night," her spokeswoman said late Wednesday.


      The Minnesota congresswoman received a personal letter from
NBC's vice president for late night programming, Doug Vaughan, a
day after she appeared on the show. As Bachmann walked onstage, the
show's band had played a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song entitled
"Lyin' Ass B----."


      Vaughan wrote that the incident was "not only unfortunate but
also unacceptable," Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told The
Associated Press. She said Vaughn offered his sincerest apologies
and said the band had been "severely reprimanded."


      Fallon also apologized to Bachmann when they spoke earlier
Wednesday, she said. He'd tweeted earlier, saying he was "so sorry
about the intro mess."


      "He was extremely nice and friendly and offered his apology,
and she accepted it," Stewart said, adding that the comedian said
he was unaware the band planned to play the song. "It's just
unfortunate that someone had to do something so disrespectful."


      Bachmann lashed out earlier Wednesday at NBC for not apologizing
or taking immediate disciplinary action. In her first comments on
the flap, Bachmann said on the Fox News Channel that the Fallon
show band displayed sexism and bias by playing the song.


      "This is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood
entertainment elite," Bachmann said. She added, "This wouldn't be
tolerated if this was Michelle Obama. It shouldn't be tolerated if
it's a conservative woman either."


      She went further on a national radio conservative radio show
hosted by Michael Medved, calling the incident "inappropriate,
outrageous and disrespectful."


      On Fox, Bachmann expressed surprise that she's heard nothing
from the TV network. She suggested that discipline for the show's
band, The Roots, was in order. She said she believed Fallon's
comments to be sincere.


      One of Bachmann's congressional colleagues, New York Democrat
Nita Lowey, had called on NBC to apologize for its "insulting and
inappropriate" treatment of its guest.


      An NBC spokeswoman didn't return a phone message from The
Associated Press.


      The Roots' bandleader, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, has said
the song was a "tongue-in-cheek and spur-of-the-moment decision."


      Bachmann, who is lagging in presidential polls, has spent the
week promoting her new autobiography in national television
interviews.


--- AP Television Writer David Bauder in New York and Associated
Press writer Erin Gartner in Chicago contributed to this report.
      
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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Brian Bakst, Associated Press

Author

Michele Bachmann received an apology from an NBC executive after an
off-color song was played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon's
"Late Night," her spokeswoman said late Wednesday.

NBC apologizes to Bachmann for Fallon song choice

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