Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
The new host of the Daily Show has some Twitter skeletons in his closet. Should comedians be given a pass when it comes to offensive stereotypes?
Less than one day after Comedy Central announced 31-year-old Trevor Noah will replace John Stewart as host of The Daily show, some old tweets by the South African comedian have landed him in hot water.
In the hours following the announcement, internet sleuths uncovered a series of off-color jokes tweeted by Noah that could be considered offensive to Jews and women:
Comedy Central released a statement declaring their continued support for Noah Tuesday afternoon:
“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included,” the network said in its statement. It continued: “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.”
Noah also tweeted a response to critics:
To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian.
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 31, 2015
Comedians Alonzo Boden, Maz Jobrani and Kristina Wong joined Alex Cohen today to talk about when a joke stops pushing boundaries and starts being offensive.