Trevor Noah is mostly impressed at how Fox News handled Roseanne's career-derailing racist tweet
After Roseanne Barr called Valerie Jarrett an ape-Muslim Brotherhood hybrid on Twitter Monday night, "many people applauded ABC for reacting swiftly and canceling Roseanne — although personally, I think ABC could do more," Trevor Noah said on Wednesday's Daily Show. "I think they should go one step further and reboot Family Matters with a super-woke Steve Urkel." But the move wasn't surprising, given the blatancy of the racism, he added. In fact, "even the anti-PC brigade agreed Roseanne had gone too far." The "brigade" was all stationed exclusively at Fox News, and there was much condemnation — Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters included.
"What was really fun was watching the people who tried to argue that Roseanne wasn't being racist, she was just sort of generally bad," Noah said, showing more Fox News. "It takes a lot of mental strength to say that calling a black woman an ape isn't racist. Not everyone can pull it off," though Herman Cain tried (on Fox Business).
Barr apologized on Twitter, eventually blaming her tweet on Ambien and Memorial Day. Ambien was having none of that, but Noah pretended to find the excuse plausible: "In Roseanne's defense, tweeting stuff that is racist while you're on Ambien, I do understand. Because if you listen carefully to their ads, there is a subtle warning about just this thing." He had the ad to prove it. Watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Claude Code: the viral AI coding app making a splash in techThe Explainer Engineers and non-coders alike are helping the app go viral
-
‘Human trafficking isn’t something that happens “somewhere else”’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What would a credit card rate cap mean for you?the explainer President Donald Trump has floated the possibility of a one-year rate cap
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
A peek inside Europe’s luxury new sleeper busThe Week Recommends Overnight service with stops across Switzerland and the Netherlands promises a comfortable no-fly adventure
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
