Bill Donohue comments on last night’s episode of “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” which broadcasts on NBC:

Here is what Meyers and his writers consider a joke: “A Spanish hotel inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey [a popular porn book] is having its opening delayed because officials are concerned that it’s too close to a nearby Catholic Church. ‘We don’t want to be next to all those creepy perverts’ said the hotel.”

I would bet my last dime that those who wrote this live a twisted sex life. Why do I say this? Because in discussions I have had with media executives, they say it is widely known that many of these late-night monologues are written by such folks.

Meyers, of course, is under no obligation to use this material. If we substituted “gay bathhouse” for Catholic Church, he would reject the joke. For obvious reasons, no such joke would ever be submitted to him. So once again, bigotry and cowardice are at work at NBC.

Contact Lauren Roseman, NBC Entertainment Publicity: lauren.roseman@nbcuni.com

Bill Donohue comments on the new FX show “Partners” which premiered last night:

A new sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence sounds like it could be promising, but the first episode of “Partners” last night proved to be little more than a bigoted attack on priests and the Catholic Church. Even the New York Times called the show “painful” and said “the proceedings mostly make you wince.” Variety likewise called it “woefully flat” and “depressing.”

The show revolves around two down-on-their-luck lawyers who team up. Lawrence’s character decides to investigate his ex-wife, who has found religion and moved into the rectory of the parish where she is a bookkeeper. The protagonists believe that she is now sleeping with one of the priests. They break into the rectory in the middle of the night hoping to confront the priest, but end up searching his empty room. They find rosary beads that they insinuate are used for sex as well as a box of condoms and other clues that help them conclude that the woman is sleeping with the priest.

After this the sexual jokes abound. For example, “I can’t believe my ex-wife was getting broke off by the one straight priest in Chicago”; and, “This is the woman I lived with for 22 years … and the entire time she’s sleeping with Fr. Francis giving him a second coming.”

This isn’t our first go-around with FX. Now they have a new problem: it’s bad enough that the critics trashed “Partners,” but FX can now be assured that practicing Catholics who mistakenly tuned in for the first episode won’t be back.

Contact: John Solberg, the senior vice president of media relations for FX: John.Solberg@fxnetwork.com

Bill Donohue comments on a cnn.com article, “The Lavish Homes of American Archbishops”:

CNN, playing its Pope Francis card, is stunned to learn that “10 of the country’s top church leaders defy the Pope’s example and live in residences worth more than $1 million.”

Rebel #1 is New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan. He is living in a house that is attached to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was built more than a hundred years ago, and cannot be sold separately because of its landmark status; it also houses offices, living quarters for other priests, guest rooms, a dining area, etc. What is inexcusable are Dolan’s red carpets—CNN claims they are “thick.” I can attest that the accusation is accurate.

Other rebels include Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, and Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski. George is guilty of having “an unobstructed view of nearby Lincoln Park,” Garcia-Siller’s crime is having a “wet bar,” and Wenski is accused of having a “tiki hut.” Those are problems that can be quickly fixed.

The executives of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, need to turn their cameras on themselves. CEO Jeff Bewkes pulled down $32.5 million last year and has a net worth of over $100 million. Bet his carpets are real “thick.” Others include John Martin, Paul Cappuccio, Gary Ginsberg and Olaf Olafsson; their 2013 salaries, were, respectively, $12.9 million, $7.8 million, $4.1 million, and $4.1 million.

CNN never stops talking about “income inequality.” Here are the current average salaries, respectively, for programmer analysts, media coordinators, and associate producers: $44,812, $50,956, and $44,120. The average media intern gets paid a whopping $8.12 an hour.

Contact the grossly underpaid—indeed exploited—CNN PR Chief Allison Gollust: allison.gollust@turner.com

Bill Donohue comments on the latest failed attack on St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt:

Once again, the foes of Archbishop Nienstedt have come up empty: the names of eight priests in the Diocese of New Ulm who were credibly accused of molesting minors were released yesterday (some of the names were previously disclosed), and only one, Father David A. Roney, was there when Nienstedt took office in 2001. Roney was placed on administrative leave without faculties in 2002; in 2003, he was named in two lawsuits.

It took Nienstedt to do what his predecessor, Bishop Raymond Lucker, failed to do. Lucker was Bishop of New Ulm from 1976 to 2000.

Accusations against Roney took place between 1967 and 1980. Father Francis Markey allegedly groped three brothers at their home in New Ulm in 1982. Father Vincent Fitzgerald allegedly abused a boy from a New Ulm parish in the late 1970s. Father William Marks was involved in alleged abuse between 1954 and 1962. Legal proceedings for claims of sexual abuse began in 1993 against Father Michael Skoblik. Father John Gleason died in 1998 (not much public information is available about him). Father Douglas Schleisman was the subject of accusations dating to 1993. Father John Murphy retired in 1991 and volunteered in ministry between 1996 and 2000; he died in 2001.

In most of these cases, the alleged sexual molestation took place under Bishop Lucker, yet he has escaped criticism from the very same people who are now taking aim at Nienstedt. Why? Because Lucker was a man of the left: He said the Catholic Church needed to consider changing its teachings on homosexuality. By contrast, those out to get Nienstedt hate him because he defends the Church’s teachings on sexuality.

The attack on Nienstedt is based on politics, not the quest for justice. More to come on this subject.