South African comedian Trevor Noah is learning a harsh lesson about American media, this after he’s been under constant criticism after the announcement that he’d be taking over hosting duties on The Daily Show. Noah’s Twitter history has been called into question, with some calling him a misogynist and anti-semitic.
Twitter users dug into Noah’s Twitter feed, going back to 2012 to uncover a series of jokes he made about Jews, women, and others. In fairness, Noah’s stand up routine see him taking digs at all races and both genders, but there’s been a laser focus on tweets given that he’s moving to taking over one of cable television’s most beloved and progressive properties in The Daily Show.
“A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you’ll probably never get to ride it,” tweeted Noah in 2011, as noted by TIME. The publication also picked out this zinger: “Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn’t go down easy, just like jewish chicks. #ElClasico.”
Critics have come out in droves to call Noah a racist and hater of Jews. Even fellow comedians have called out Noah for his jokes on women and Isreal. The outrage was probably expected, given the nature of Noah’s comedy, but neither he nor Comedy Central have said much in response
The fact that a stand-up comedian said something offensive in the past shouldn’t be this salacious, but this is an expected part of the news cycle these days. But if we really want to take things to a new level, would there be this level of sleuth work on Noah’s Twitter timeline if he were, ahem, a lighter shade?
Part of this is that Jon Stewart’s role in the realm of news and politics is so vital, especially with younger viewers who share strong liberal views. Noah isn’t any different in that belief, and considering he was born into one of the world’s most divisive environments during South Africa’s racist Apartheid period should garner him some leeway to make mockery of the specter of racism.
As to not dig up further dirt, we won’t post any more of Noah’s tweets but we will share some of the responses on the following pages. Do you think this is fair treatment or par for the course. Sound off in the comments if you’d like.
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/582759465998544896
[h/t THR]
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Photo: The Daily Show
