TV

Trevor Noah Has Been Jon Stewart’s Successor For Less Than A Day And He’s Already In Big Trouble

Not great.

by Meg Watson  31 March 2015

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

[Update April 1]: Overnight, Comedy Central released the following statement defending their new host:

“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.”

Though he reportedly deleted his first response to the controversy, Noah has echoed those thoughts via Twitter this morning.

–

It’s been less than 24 hours since Comedy Central announced that Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah would be stepping up into Stewart’s job, and the internet has already done a full 180 on him.

After getting the initial distrust that comes when faced with someone who has two first names, pretty much everyone, including us, got behind the decision. The idea that anyone can be the new Jon Stewart is of course ridiculous, but is someone’s got to do it, why not Noah? His segments have been pretty great. His stand-up is funny. And hey, it’s kind of refreshing that he’s not another middle-aged white guy.

But now, people are feeling a little less positive. BuzzFeed editor Tom Gara started snooping around the comedian’s old Twitter feed this afternoon, and the results have been less than ideal:

noah2

–

noah3

–

noah4

–

noah5

–

noah6

–

noah10

–

noah8

–

And, while most of these are from around 2011 and 2012, the past year has shown much of the same:

noah7

–

noah1

–

noahhh

–

noah666

–

While all this is probably about what you’d expect from a twenty-something fledgling comedian — Noah is now 31 — many think it might raise a few problems for the consistently feminist nature of the show.

And despite dealing with race relations consistently in his comedy — not to mention in his first segment with The Daily Show — some are finding his previous jokes about race a little less appealing.

All in all: everything’s a bit of a mess and no one quite knows how to feel. Some conservative commentators have been quick to call him out in an attempt to discredit the show itself; comedian Roseanne Barr came out against him, forthrightly calling him a prick; and Roxane Gay is questioning it all, asking if we’d be just as offended if this was a different white comic making shitty jokes.

Basically, the internet is doing it’s usual thing.

Check back in tomorrow morning when Noah makes his public statement and/or deletes all the evidence.

–

Feature image via Trevor Noah/Facebook.