Trevor Noah's Tweet Controversy

Trevor Noah's Tweet Controversy

Updated Jul 24, 2018 at 03:06PM EDT by Matt.

Added Mar 31, 2015 at 04:30PM EDT by Don.

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Overview

Trevor Noah's Tweet Controversy refers to the online backlash toward a series of tweets discovered in South African comedian Trevor Noah's Twitter history in late March 2015, following the announcement that he would become the new host of the satirical news program The Daily Show following Jon Stewart's retirement. Many accused the jokes found in Noah's feed as being offensive to jews, women and atheists, calling for Comedy Central to reconsider hiring Noah as the new host of The Daily Show.

Background

In December 2014, Noah began appearing as a recurring guest contributor on the Comedy Central satirical news program The Daily Show. On March 30th, 2015, the cable television network announced that Noah would replace host Jon Stewart following the comedian's retirement from the show later that year. That evening, a series of tweets were discovered in Noah's Twitter feed history that many argued were fat shaming, misogynistic and anti-Semitic (shown below).[1][2][3][4][8][9]


Trevor Noah Φ @Trevornoah * Follow So she gets fat? RT @missdanibagel: When a worman is loved correcly, she becomes 10 times the woman she was before RETWEETS FAVORITES 386 168 4:49 AM-18 Jul 2014 Trevor Noah @Trevornoah Follow Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn't go down easy, just like jewish chicks. 托|Clasico 5:10 PM-25 Jan 2012 158 RETWEETS 44 FAVORITES Trevor Noah Φ @Trevornoah * Follow road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car! わt ★ ..。 RETWEETS FAVORITES 112 11:54 AM-18 Sep 2009 Trevor Noah Φ @Trevornoah * Follow "Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna got drunk& think th'xyfat chicks everywhere. わt ★ RETWEETS FAVORITES 6:27 AM-14 Oct 2011 Trevor Noah Φ @Trevornoah * Follow A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you'll orolbably never geto rie . わt ★ RETWEETS FAVORITES 2 361 114 1:57 PM- 28 Nov 2011 Trevor Noah @Trevornoah Follow Oriinally when m proposd y w down on knee so if the woman said no they were in the perfect uppercui position. 8:30 AM-20 Dec 2012 877 RETWEETS 178 FAVORITES

Notable Developments

Online Reaction

Following the discovery of the tweets on March 30th, many Twitter users criticized the tweets for being ignorant and dim-witted.


Trevor Noah Following @Trevornoah South Africans know how to recycle like israel knows how to be peaceful RETWEETS FAVORITES 24 8 9:45 AM-2 Jun 2010 Dani Klein @YeahThatsKosher Follow Sad that some1 as ignorant as @TrevorNoah will host @TheDailyShow w/ comments like these. #Israel @StandWithUs 5:15 PM- 30 Mar 2015 77 RETWEETS 47 FAVORITES Ariana Gic Perry @ArianaGicPerry * Follow Jews, "untermenschen", "fat chicks" & "girls with big asses" - subjects of @Trevornoah's low-brow humour. Jon Stewart's replacement, folks! わt ★ RETWEETS FAVORITES 46 32 12:19 AM-31 Mar 2015

On March 31st, 2015, Redditor MoralZorel submitted several of Noah's tweets mocking atheism and deceased author Christopher Hitchens to the /r/atheism[5] subreddit (shown below). The same day, Redditor El_Charly submitted a tweet by Noah mocking fat women to the /r/fatpeoplehate[6] subreddit.


Trevor Noah December 16, 2011 I Like Page Without God, Atheists wouldn't exist. Like Comment Share 3,782 people like this. Trevor Noah December 16, 2011 - Like Page I always wonder, why atheists don't spend as much questioning satan's existence Like Comment Share 2239 people like this. Trevor Noah @Trevornoah Follow Christopher Hitchens died, you spread the word of his greatness and tell everybody to read his books? #WeAINeedAGod RETWEETS FAVORITES 21 6:53 AM-16 Dec 2011 Trevor Noah @Trevornoah Follow So Christopher Hitchens wrote a book that Atheist live by? They worship him and believe in his teachings? #WeAINeedAGod RETWEETS FAVORITES 26 2 6:52 AM- 16 Dec 2011

Noah's Response

On March 31st, 2015, Noah posted the tweet "Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter." The tweet was subsequently deleted.



Comedy Central's Response

Also on March 31st, Comedy Central issued a statement defending Noah:

“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.”

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news site published articles about the tweet controversy, including BuzzFeed,[7] Entertainment Weekly,[10] The New York Times,[11] The Daily Dot,[12] E! Online,[13] The Guardian,[14] The Independent[15] and UpRoxx.[16]

2018 World Cup Comments

Following France's victory in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Trevor Noah made a series of controversial jokes about the players of African descent on the French team, congratulating Africa on its win. On July 17th, 2018, Noah said in a segment on The Daily Show (shown below, left), "Africa won the World Cup."

The following day, the U.S. French Embassy responded to the jokes on Twitter.[17] The French Embassador Gerard Araud wrote, "By calling them an African team, it seems you are denying their Frenchness. This, even in jest, legitimizes the ideology which claims whiteness as the only definition of being French." The post (shown below, right) received more than 4,200 retweets and 12,000 likes in six days.


French Embassy U.S. usfranceintheus On @TheDailyShow , @Trevornoah called the victory." Read Ambassador @GerardAraud 's @French Team 's World Cup win an "African response: Washington, DC, Juty 18, 2018 Sir I watched with great attention your July 17 show, when you spoke of the victory of the French team at the 2018 Fifa World Cup ussiaM final which took place last Sunday. I heard your words about " African viciory", nolhing could be less true. As many players have already steted themselves, their parents may have cume from another country but a great majority af them (all but two out of 23) were horn in France; they were aducated in France; they learned to play soccer in Frunce; they are French citizens. They ure proud of their country, France. The rich and various backgrounds of these players is a refleution of France's diversity France is indeed a cosmupolitan couniry, but every citizen is part of the rench identity and together they belong to the nalion of France. Unlike in the United States of America, France does not rcfer to hs cltizens based on their race, religion or origin. To us, there is no hyphenated identity, roots are an individual renlily. By calling them an African team, it seenns yuu are denying their Frenchness. This, even in jest, legitimizes the ideology which claims whiteness as the only delfinition of being French Finally, the idenkily of French national team should not be defined by people that are not part af it. The Freach national socoer team's identity shauld- and has, as a matter of fact- been definesd as a group of people living togelher, Fighting together, losing or winning together, illustrating in & perfect and beautiful way a part of our national moto : oquality-ndfraternity Yours sincerely Gdrard


That day, Noah responded to the letter on a "Between The Scenes" online segment. Noah defended the joke, stating that the ambassador's letter "erased" the identity of the players and the history of French colonialism. The post (shown below) received more than 3 million views in six days.

On July 23rd, Redditor[19] kiwidave posted about the controversy in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit, received more than 1,900 points (91% upvoted) in 24 hours.



The controversy revived some of the previous criticisms of Noah's comedy, particularly the anti-semitic and misogynistic tweets from Noah's past. On July 22nd, the Facebook group FeminismAndDecolonisation posted a video of Noah's 2013 standup routine in which Noah jokes that he has never seen a "beautiful" aboriginal woman. The post (shown below) received more than 525 reactions and 500 shares in two days.


That day, Noah responded to the critiques,[18] "@joewilliams_tew you're right. After visiting Australia's Bunjilaka museum and learning about aboriginal history first hand I vowed never to make a joke like that again. And I haven't. I'll make sure the clip from 2013 is not promoted in any way." The tweet (shown below) received more than 75 retweets and 425 likes in two days.


Dr Anita Heiss Ф @AnitaHeiss-Jul 22 I am so disgusted and appalled by the comments by @Trevornoah and his attempted humour that denigrates Aboriginal women I hope Australians boycott his shows in # Brisbane #Sydney # Melbourne #Perth #Australia That kind of 'humour, is not funny and does damage! #racismitstopswithme Joe Williams - TEW @joewilliams_tew Hey @Trevornoah, your comments about Aboriginal @IndigenousX in this clip are utterly unacceptable! As a man of colour, you are usually in point with racism & divide - here you are perpetrating& encouraging racial abuse!! #boycotttrevornoaninoz 136 tl 259 698 Trevor Noah @Trevornoah Replying to @AnitaHeiss @joewilliams_tew you're right. After visiting Australia's Bunjilaka museum and learning about aboriginal history first hand I vowed never to make a joke like that again. And I haven't. l'Il make sure the clip from 2013 is not promoted in any way.

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