Chris Rock backtracks over Tracy Morgan support

Chris Rock has been forced to backtrack following his support of comedian Tracy Morgan's perceived homophobic rant.

Morgan received widespread criticism after he made several anti-gay comments during a recent performance in Tennessee. However, Rock was quick to defend the 30 Rock star on Twitter.

Rock has now released a second statement explaining that he had misunderstood the tone of Morgan's comments when he originally heard about the controversy.

"Tracy Morgan is a tad off. We all know that so when Tracy says something I usually don't take it any more serious than I would a statement from Gary Busey or Flavor Flav," Rock tweeted yesterday.

"When I first heard the statement I though it was offensive but it also reminded me of my father saying I'll kill you if you ever bring home a white girl," Rock explained. "But after reading everything Tracy said, wow I get it that s**t wasn't called for and I don't support it at all."

"Now can I please go to the Tony Awards without getting my ass kicked?" the comedian added.

Morgan has since apologised for his comments, and insists that he is an "equal opportunities jokester".

> Cheyenne Jackson "disgusted" by Tracy Morgan