Comedy Central had to do some damage control on Tuesday, a day after they named Trevor Noah as the new host of The Daily Show.
Shortly after Comedy Central named Noah as Stewart’s replacement, the network encountered a social media backlash when old Tweets – some from as far back as 2009 – from the 31-year-old South African comedian that made him seem anti-Semitic and sexist were uncovered.
“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included," said Comedy Central in a statement Tuesday. “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.”
Some of the tweets that caused the most uproar were:
From October 2011: "'Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!' - fat chicks everywhere."
From September 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!"
Noah responded to the backlash himself on his Twitter account Tuesday afternoon: "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.”
