[arista]

If John backs him
I say give him a chance


http://jezebel.com/trevor-noah-is-ta...ily-1694482410

[MB.]

Jamaica, South Africa, same thing.

[Firewire]

I love him, great choice

[arista]

Originally Posted by MB.

Jamaica, South Africa, same thing.

I have removed the Jamaican
as you are right
South Africa is his birth place

[GiRTh]

Comedy Central Stands Behind Trevor Noah, New ‘Daily Show’ Host, Amid Scrutiny

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 social media presence for more clues to Mr. Noah, a South African comedian, they uncovered many posts on his Twitter account that they deemed offensive to women or Jews.

Comedy Central announced on Monday that Mr. Noah, 31, would succeed Jon Stewart as anchor of “The Daily Show,” its satirical late-night 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 had appeared as an on-air contributor to “The Daily Show” only three times before being named as host.

Trevor Noah to Succeed Jon Stewart on ‘The Daily Show’MARCH 30, 2015

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 a 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?”

So she gets fat? RT @missdanibagel: When a woman is loved correctly, she becomes 10 times the woman she was before
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) July 18, 2014

Mr. Noah has also posted jokes about Jews 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!”

A 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, a news and opinion website based in Washington, 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 host of “The Daily Show,” 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.”

Comedy Central offered its support to Mr. Noah in a statement on 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.”

Late Tuesday afternoon Mr. Noah responded on Twitter:

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement that he wished Mr. Noah well in his new position at “The Daily Show,” but cautioned him against perpetuating stereotypes.

“We understand that comedians often use humor to poke fun at stereotypes,” Mr. Foxman said, “and to push the envelope of political correctness, and it seems that many if not most of the tweets sent by Trevor Noah over the years fall into those categories.”

Mr. Foxman added: “We hope he will not cross the line from legitimate satire into offensiveness with jokes calling up anti-Semitic stereotypes and misogyny. And we hope that he and Comedy Central will make a conscious effort to ensure that ‘The Daily Show’ remains funny and irreverent without trafficking in bigoted jokes at the expense of Jews, other minorities and women.”

Others seemed to shrug off these offending 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 distance 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 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 program with a worldwide audience of fans as well as detractors.

Mr. Noah seemed aware earlier 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.

NY Times