Yesterday, South African Trevor Noah nabbed one of TV’s most high profile gigs when he was announced as Jon Stewart‘s replacement on The Daily Show, but mere hours later, he was already facing a serious backlash.
Thanks to jokes on his Twitter feed, which date back several years and have managed to offend a highly impressive array of people, the comedian has been accused of sexism, racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism.
We won’t bother republishing any of the old Tweets, which contain observations about lesbian hockey and cringeworthy #BeatsByDreidel punchlines, but suffice to say, we hope he displays slightly more refined comedy skills on The Daily Show.
While many have criticised Noah and called for a Comedy Central boycott, others have leapt to his defense, saying that Noah is a comedian, and risque jokes are his stock in trade.
The New York Times report that, overnight, Comedy Central issued a statement on the situation, standing behind their new Daily Show host, saying:
“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.”
Noah, whose situation is pretty much the new normal for any public figure, Tweeted then deleted a response, saying that “Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter.”
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