ST. PAUL, Minn. – GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann lashed out Wednesday at NBC for not apologizing or taking immediate disciplinary action for an off-color song played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night.”

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 a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song, “Lyin’ A– B—-,” as she walked onstage for Tuesday’s show.

Additional Photos

Michele Bachmann, in this NBC photo, points to a photo of Jimmy Fallon dressed as Bachmann, during her visit to “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Tuesday. The Associated Press

Faye Dunaway The Associated Press

“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.”

Fallon has tweeted an apology to Bachmann, saying he was “so sorry about the intro mess.”

Bachmann told Minnesota Public Radio News that Fallon called her on Wednesday to further apologize. She said the comedian told her he was unaware that his show’s band planned to play the song.

On Fox, Bachmann expressed surprise that she’s heard nothing from the TV network. She suggested that discipline for the show’s Roots band 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 immediately 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.

Dunaway vacates N.Y. apartment

NEW YORK – Faye Dunaway is moving on from a fight with a landlord over a New York City apartment by moving out.

The New York Times reported Wednesday the “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Chinatown” actress agreed this month to give up her rent-stabilized, $1,048-a-month Manhattan apartment.

The newspaper says an agreement filed last week gave her until this past Monday to move out. Her landlord’s lawyer tells the newspaper she has.

Dunaway’s agent has declined to comment. The landlord sued Dunaway in August, seeking to evict her. The lawsuit said she didn’t use the one-bedroom walk-up as her primary residence.

Michaels laid up with pneumonia

VIENNA – George Michael’s publicist says the British singer has been hospitalized in Vienna with pneumonia.

Connie Filippello said Wednesday that Michael’s upcoming tours in Vienna; Strasbourg, France; and Cardiff, Wales have been postponed as a result and will be rescheduled.

Her statement said the singer has been “diagnosed with pneumonia and he is currently receiving treatment.”

Austrian state broadcaster says that is happening at Vienna’s AKH hospital. A woman who answered the phone there refused to comment due to privacy rules.

Jackson doctor seeks probation

LOS ANGELES – Lawyers for Michael Jackson’s doctor have asked that he receive probation following his involuntary manslaughter conviction, while prosecutors have urged a sentence of four years in prison.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday in advance of sentencing Tuesday, prosecutor David Walgren said Dr. Conrad Murray has shown no remorse for Jackson’s death and has placed blame on others.

Defense attorney Nareg Gourjian, citing praise from former patients, said the doctor is serving a lifetime sentence of self-punishment.

– From news service reports

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