Tom Shadyac's language made Desmond Tutu cover his ears

Director-writer-producer Tom Shadyac, who's directed some pretty funny films --  "Bruce Almighty," "Liar, Liar," "Evan Almighty," "The Nutty Professor," and "Patch Adams" -- was also amusing as host of this week's 2008 Freedom Awards at USC. 

He told the crowd that included Malin Ackerman, Camilla Belle, Carla Guigino, Anne Archer, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Kiss band member Paul Stanley, "When I first heard about slavery, I was ignorant about this subject. Before, I said [Expletive!] Oops, I said a very bad word. Sorry, archbishop." 

Presenter of this year's Freedom Award, Archbishop Desmond Tutu playfully cupped his hands over his ears while Tom continued, "I get a lot of requests -- when I met the people at Free Slaves -- how I could I say no?  Slavery still exists, people -- there are more than 27 million slaves on the planet now. We need to get on it. With a group like this, it's not about the defeat and darkness. It's about the light. Now I describe myself as a writer-director-abolitionist. " 

Tom described Tutu: "The light in this man's eyes can shame the sun."

Tutu then came onstage and said, "Thank you. Tom, you are absolved." Tutu later went on to quote Martin Luther King: "When one person is enslaved, none of us are free."

Shadyac later told The Dish Rag, "People shy away from the word 'slavery.' You literally can free a child for a small amount. I don't know about Hollywood, but I know that I'm going to illuminate my small circle of friends. "

Nice to hear people actually talking about important global issues in Hollywood, as opposed to Sarah Palin's hairdo-glasses-lipstick-tanning bed or whether Barack Obama really dissed Lindsay Lohan.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Update: Several former slaves were given awards at this event. One of was James Kofi Annan, enslaved as a child and now works to free other slaves in Ghana. For more info on the awards and the organization, visit www.freetheslaves.net.

Reporting: Leah Sydney
Photo: WireImage