YESTERDAY, COMEDY CENTRAL announced that South African comedian Trevor Noah would succeed Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show.
The news was warmly welcomed by many.
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However, the comedian has now found himself at the centre of controversy after it was found that he had previously tweeted, among other things, jokes that have been construed as being anti-Semitic and sexist.
Noah has been active on Twitter since June 2009 and has over 2.1 million followers.
When news of his appointment was announced, the internet evidently went scouring his Twitter account and dug up these tweets.
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Tweets that were deemed offensive to women and the LGBT community were also uncovered.
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The jokes immediately caused a firestorm on social media with everyone from The New York Times to Buzzfeed covering the story.
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However, many people have defended Noah in the wake of the controversy with the general consensus being that it isn’t fair to judge a comedian based on a handful of tweets sent over a six-year period.
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In a statement released this evening, Comedy Central also defended the comments made by its new hire.
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 tweets is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.
