TELEVISION - March 3, 1993

Ranks Dropped: Grammy-winning reggae singer Shabba Ranks has been dropped from this evening’s “Tonight Show” after complaints to producers by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Ranks had made anti-gay remarks, including support of violence against gays, on a recent British television appearance. An NBC spokeswoman called the cancellation a “human rights” issue. On Tuesday, Ranks offered a statement expressing his “regret” at the comments and said: “I do not approve of any act of violence against homosexuals or any other human beings. . . . Gay bashing is not an activity which I condone.”