Urges Him to Ensure the Show Does Not Make Jokes at the Expense of Jews
New York, NY, March 31, 2015 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today wished incoming Comedy Central comedian Trevor Noah every success as he assumes the anchor chair at The Daily Show, while urging him to ensure the show “remains funny and irreverent without trafficking in bigoted jokes at the expense of Jews.”
Since his appointment was announced yesterday, ADL has received many inquiries about various posts on Twitter from several years ago where the 31-year-old South African comedian made jokes playing into classic anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
We welcome Trevor Noah to his new endeavor at The Daily Show and wish him success. We need humor -- perhaps now more than ever -- and we hope that he will build on Jon Stewart’s great legacy.
We understand that comedians often use humor to poke fun at stereotypes 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.
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.