But hey, don’t worry about it, that was a year ago, which is like, a lifetime, pretty much, and he was only young then, and people change, and besides it’s comedy, and what’s more comedy than laughing at Jews and “fat chicks”? NPR presents the minimizations:
Updated at 4 p.m.
Comedy Central has now responded to the criticism directed at comedian Trevor Noah. In a statement cited by Politico, it said:
“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.”
Ah yes, he pushes boundaries and is provocative, and what’s more boundary-pushing than laughing at Jews and “fat chicks”?
Almost anything. There are few things more conventional and within the boundaries than making fun of people for being things like fat or Jewish or ugly or Chinese or short or ill or ragged or in any way a deviation from the meritorious norm of being an attractive tall strong prosperous white male of the correct ethnic origin.
That’s what. (Since Trevor Noah isn’t white you’d think that would occur to him, but whatever.)
But hey, it’s comedy, he’s a comic, so lighten up and get over yourselves and join the fun.
Most of the tweets are from 2010-2012.
I watched some of his routines and I thought he was pretty funny. But, yeah, those tweets. Not very boundary-pushy to recycle ancient tropes and stereotypes about people who’ve been the butt of jokes for… ever?
If it really is a case of old tweets and he’s matured since then, why not come forward with that? If he could explain, in his own words, WHY those old tweets were bad, and demonstrate how he’s matured past that…I don’t think anyone would mind one bit. We’ve all said stupid things in the past. But this response is nothing but an excuse. Don’t assume that everyone matures a lot in a period of 3-5 years. Most people do not.
Out of nearly 9,000 tweets this guy has sent since joining Twitter, five or six have been… “problematic”?
The Guardian, house journal for SJWs, has it about right:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/01/trevor-noah-sent-8882-tweets-some-were-not-funny-get-over-it
Ah, there’s that “equal opportunity offender” shtick. I spare no one! I punch professional boxers and babies!
I’m assuming that folks who are commenting are doing so because they like or care about the Daily Show and want it to succeed and don’t think Noah is the best host to accomplish that; and that Jon Stewart DID accomplish that. So I guess for context, folks should probably check and see if Jon Stewart ever said anything they didn’t, uh, like or agree with in his comedy stylings … as people seem to have no problems with his leadership abilities and success on the show, but doubt Noah’s abilities. I mean, I don’t remember people trying to have Jon Stewart fired or taking him to task for any reason, so I guess he never made any questionable, unfunny or otherwise objectionable jokes… as always, I could be wrong. /tempestinateapot
And the line about ‘richer Jews’ wasn’t actually a joke. The ‘fat chick’ reference was a shallow ‘switch’ joke, an attempt to manufacture a gag out of a preexisting cliché.
I don’t know the guy from Adam, but it is just possible that these are careless notes that shouldn’t have been public in the first place.