Comedy Central is standing by its decision to pick Trevor Noah as the new host of The Daily Show after social media sleuths dug up old, offensive jokes Noah posted on Twitter years ago.
Just hours after the South African comedian was hired to take over the show after Jon Stewart leaves later this year, Twitter posts from 2009 through 2012 were coming back to bit him. There were several unfunny, offensive jokes about Jews and women, which circulated the web.
In one joke from 2009, Noah wrote, “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 from 2011 read, “‘Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!’ - fat chicks everywhere.”
As The New York Times points out, Noah did seem to notice the scrutiny his old jokes were getting. This morning, he wrote, “Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter,” but then deleted the message.
However, Comedy Central did make a statement to TheWrap, insisting that it was “unfair” to judge Noah because of these old tweets.
“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included,” Comedy Central said. “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.”
Comedy Central does not have a timeline for Noah’s first Daily Show episode. Stewart hasn’t announced when his last show will be.
image courtesy of Comedy Central