Trevor Noah, New ‘Daily Show’ Host, Comes Under Scrutiny for Tweets

Started by Syt, March 31, 2015, 09:39:56 AM

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Syt

March 31, 2015, 09:39:56 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/arts/television/trevor-noah-new-daily-show-host-comes-under-scrutiny-for-tweets.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=fb-nytimes&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&smtyp=aut&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id

QuoteTrevor Noah, New 'Daily Show' Host, Comes Under Scrutiny for Tweets

Within hours of the announcement that he had been named the new host of "The Daily Show," the comedian Trevor Noah was subjected to the full scrutiny of the Internet. As potential audience members scoured his past work and his social media for more clues about the South African comedian, they uncovered many posts on his Twitter account that they deemed to be offensive to women or Jews.

Comedy Central announced on Monday that Mr. Noah, 31, had been chosen to succeed Jon Stewart as anchor of "The Daily Show," its satirical news program, when Mr. Stewart steps down this year. Though Mr. Noah has performed stand-up comedy around the world, he is not widely known in the United States, and he has appeared as an on-air contributor to "The Daily Show" only three times before he was promoted to host.

On Twitter, where he has had an account since 2009 and accumulated more than two million followers, Mr. Noah often posts irreverent statements that reflect his interests in popular culture, global politics and issues of race. As with many comedians, Mr. Noah's jokes can test the boundaries of what is socially permissible and what is in bad taste.

In several posts, Mr. Noah came across as mocking or derisive of women. In one from 2011, he writes: "Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!" a quote that he attributes to "fat chicks everywhere."

In another post from last year, he quotes another Twitter user who writes, "When a woman is loved correctly, she becomes 10 times the woman she was before," to which Mr. Noah adds: "So she gets fat?"

Mr. Noah has also posted jokes about Jewish people and about Israel. As he wrote in 2009, "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!"

Another post from 2010 reads, "South Africans know how to recycle like israel knows how to be peaceful."

Reacting to some of Mr. Noah's jokes in a post for The Daily Caller, Jamie Weinstein, a senior editor, wrote that this tweet "does seem to suggest that Noah believes Israel is an inherently belligerent country."

Mr. Weinstein wrote that this was a potentially dangerous attitude for a new "Daily Show" host, adding: "Many young people don't watch 'The Daily Show' just to laugh — they watch the show to get their news. The show shapes perceptions."

Others seemed to shrug off these posts simply as unfunny.

Tom Gara, the editor of BuzzFeed's business news site, wrote on his Twitter account, "The most depressing thing about Trevor Noah's Twitter timeline, other than how bad he is at Twitter, is how often he replies to @UberFacts."

Others pointed out that he also has made fun of Americans, South Africans and people from numerous other countries. When a fan tweeted at him last October, asking him to please come to Texas, Mr. Noah replied, "But you've already got Ebola?"

It is not uncommon for comedians on social media to be criticized by other users who are unfamiliar with their routines or stage personas, or for comedians to distances themselves from older material as their views evolve and they become more accomplished.

Still, the controversy over Mr. Noah's tweets poses a challenge for Comedy Central and its prestige late-night comedy show. And it raises the question of why his Twitter account was not more carefully vetted before he was named host of "The Daily Show," a late-night show with a worldwide audience of fans as well as detractors.

Mr. Noah seemed aware on Tuesday of the controversy surrounding his tweets. Just before 9 a.m. Eastern time, he posted: "Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter." The tweet was deleted shortly after.

Press representatives for Comedy Central did not immediately comment on Tuesday morning.
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Malthus

#1
March 31, 2015, 09:45:02 AM
Comedian offends some with comedy.

This is news? I would have thought it was more of a job description. :hmm:
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Valmy

#2
March 31, 2015, 09:47:40 AM
Let's go find that comedian who never offends anybody with his jokes to do biting news commentary. I am sure that will be a ratings getter.

Quote"Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter." The tweet was deleted shortly after.

I mean seriously? That is like a 1950s one liner gag.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Admiral Yi

#4
March 31, 2015, 09:49:48 AM
His bigger problem seems to be that he's not funny.

Malthus

#5
March 31, 2015, 09:51:27 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 31, 2015, 09:49:48 AM
His bigger problem seems to be that he's not funny.

Well, yeah.

But "comedian is actually unfunny" is likewise not very newsworthy.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Liep

#6
March 31, 2015, 09:52:05 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 31, 2015, 09:49:48 AM
His bigger problem seems to be that he's not funny.


Was Stewart funny before he was a Daily Show host? I've never actually seen him do stand up.

It seems to me he just need to have the right delivery and be able to do it with the right amount of charm and wit. American politics will provide the funny part.
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derspiess

#8
March 31, 2015, 09:55:36 AM
He pissed off Roseanne Barr, so he's doing something right.
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Valmy

#9
March 31, 2015, 10:02:37 AM
Quote from: derspiess on March 31, 2015, 09:55:36 AM
He pissed off Roseanne Barr, so he's doing something right.

Did he sing the national anthem well or something?
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

derspiess

#10
March 31, 2015, 10:03:27 AM
Yeah, let's get Roseanne to sing the national anthem.  What could go wrong there??
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Admiral Yi

#11
March 31, 2015, 10:04:36 AM
Quote from: Liep on March 31, 2015, 09:52:05 AM
It seems to me he just need to have the right delivery and be able to do it with the right amount of charm and wit. American politics will provide the funny part.

Anyone can read gags off a teleprompter, but you need to have an actual sense of humor for interviews to be funny.

DGuller

#12
March 31, 2015, 10:14:27 AM
I watched his bits on the Daily Show.  I didn't really care for the "America the terrible" theme he had going in all of them.  They have to dial that shit back, no one likes a foreigner mocking their country, no matter how fairly (and in my opinion it wasn't fairly at all).  I hope he watches John Oliver's show for a while to see how to do these kinds of routines smoothly.

The Brain

#13
March 31, 2015, 10:27:00 AM
QuoteMany young people don't watch 'The Daily Show' just to laugh — they watch the show to get their news.

:lmfao:
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Berkut

#14
March 31, 2015, 10:28:09 AM
Quote from: The Brain on March 31, 2015, 10:27:00 AM
QuoteMany young people don't watch 'The Daily Show' just to laugh — they watch the show to get their news.

:lmfao:

Could be worse - they could watch Fox to get their news.
"If you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention."

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