There's been a great deal of controversy and debate in recent weeks over comedians' jokes and comments: What constitutes as going too far, what's the proper form of punishment, and whether or not there's consistency to the conversies and punishments.
It all started when Roseanne Barr posted several disturbing tweets, the worst of which read, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." VJ stands for Valerie Jarrett, an African-American who worked under then President Obama. ABC has since cancelled her show, Roseanne.
Samantha Bee, host of the late-night TBS political satire series, Full Frontal, not long after, said this on her show: "Ivanka Trump, who works at the White House, chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we've seen this week. You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c*nt!" For the time being, TBS has stood by Ms. Bee, not cancelling her show to this point.
With Roseanne getting cancelled and Full Frontal at least temporarily staying put, many Trump/Roseanne supporters went to Twitter to call for Bill Maher's firing, due to the Real Time host once making the following joke about the president: "Trump is like a love child between a human woman and an orangutan from the Brooklyn zoo." Like with Sam Bee, to this point, Bill Maher has yet to be canned due to his 5-year-old joke (yes, it was uttered in 2013).
Before I share my opinions on the three controversies, let me first say that I've never been a fan of Roseanne Barr; tend to enjoy Samantha Bee's comedy; and kind of have a love-hate relationship with Bill Maher. Having said that, while I do feel both Roseanne and Sam Bee crossed lines with their commentary, I don't feel any of these comedians should have been fired due to it.
Let's first look at Roseanne and be honest with ourselves - the woman has not shied away from controversial remarks, especially in light of Donald Trump's run to becoming the president. If we have been paying attention, how can we say with a straight face that we were shocked by her racist tweet(s)? No, that doesn't make it right, but I have a difficult time seeing how her tweet could have been so shocking, it prompted the cancellation of her show. In my opinion, ABC should have provided Roseanne with a warning, let the public know about this for damage control, and if she crossed a similar line again, fired her.
I hold similar beliefs with regard to Samantha Bee. I have no problem with her going after Ivanka Trump, for Trump's daughter plays an integral role to his administration and tactics. However, referring to her as a c*nt is going overboard. To her credit, Ms. Bee released an immediate apology following the backlash. Like with Roseanne, I feel she should have been provided a warning; TBS should then have let the public know about this, and if she crossed a similar line again, think the show should be cancelled.
It's ironically hilarious Trump supporters went after Bill Maher for his orangutan joke in light of Roseanne getting fired for her racist Valerie Jarrett tweet, because if anything, Maher's joke was the antithesis of Roseanne's tweet. In 2013, Maher offered Donald Trump $5 million to release his birth certificate to prove he wasn't the offspring of a human and an orangutan. Why? He did this as a response to Trump's repeated attempts at getting Barack Obama to release his birth certificate, because you know, he's black and was obviously born in Kenya... Maher was poking fun of/criticizing Trump's racism, while Roseanne was herself being racist. Look, I'll be the first to admit that Bill Maher has said some cringeworthy, borderline fire-worthy things, but this was not one of them.
While I'm not a fan of Roseanne Barr and like Samantha Bee, I feel the both should have been given second chances by their respective networks. Since the repercussions of their actions have differed significantly, we now have to run into the debates about consistency, networks' bias, etc. It'll be interesting to see if this lack of consistency continues moving forward. If so, for the first time in a very long time, I may have to agree with conservatives about there being a bias against them in at least one instance.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/05/29/roseanne-barr-apologizes-racially-charged-tweets-obama-adviser/650973002/
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/03/media/samantha-bee-addresses-controversy/index.html
http://ew.com/tv/2018/06/02/bill-maher-roseanne-barr-trump-orangutan/
It all started when Roseanne Barr posted several disturbing tweets, the worst of which read, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." VJ stands for Valerie Jarrett, an African-American who worked under then President Obama. ABC has since cancelled her show, Roseanne.
Samantha Bee, host of the late-night TBS political satire series, Full Frontal, not long after, said this on her show: "Ivanka Trump, who works at the White House, chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we've seen this week. You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c*nt!" For the time being, TBS has stood by Ms. Bee, not cancelling her show to this point.
With Roseanne getting cancelled and Full Frontal at least temporarily staying put, many Trump/Roseanne supporters went to Twitter to call for Bill Maher's firing, due to the Real Time host once making the following joke about the president: "Trump is like a love child between a human woman and an orangutan from the Brooklyn zoo." Like with Sam Bee, to this point, Bill Maher has yet to be canned due to his 5-year-old joke (yes, it was uttered in 2013).
Before I share my opinions on the three controversies, let me first say that I've never been a fan of Roseanne Barr; tend to enjoy Samantha Bee's comedy; and kind of have a love-hate relationship with Bill Maher. Having said that, while I do feel both Roseanne and Sam Bee crossed lines with their commentary, I don't feel any of these comedians should have been fired due to it.
Let's first look at Roseanne and be honest with ourselves - the woman has not shied away from controversial remarks, especially in light of Donald Trump's run to becoming the president. If we have been paying attention, how can we say with a straight face that we were shocked by her racist tweet(s)? No, that doesn't make it right, but I have a difficult time seeing how her tweet could have been so shocking, it prompted the cancellation of her show. In my opinion, ABC should have provided Roseanne with a warning, let the public know about this for damage control, and if she crossed a similar line again, fired her.
I hold similar beliefs with regard to Samantha Bee. I have no problem with her going after Ivanka Trump, for Trump's daughter plays an integral role to his administration and tactics. However, referring to her as a c*nt is going overboard. To her credit, Ms. Bee released an immediate apology following the backlash. Like with Roseanne, I feel she should have been provided a warning; TBS should then have let the public know about this, and if she crossed a similar line again, think the show should be cancelled.
It's ironically hilarious Trump supporters went after Bill Maher for his orangutan joke in light of Roseanne getting fired for her racist Valerie Jarrett tweet, because if anything, Maher's joke was the antithesis of Roseanne's tweet. In 2013, Maher offered Donald Trump $5 million to release his birth certificate to prove he wasn't the offspring of a human and an orangutan. Why? He did this as a response to Trump's repeated attempts at getting Barack Obama to release his birth certificate, because you know, he's black and was obviously born in Kenya... Maher was poking fun of/criticizing Trump's racism, while Roseanne was herself being racist. Look, I'll be the first to admit that Bill Maher has said some cringeworthy, borderline fire-worthy things, but this was not one of them.
While I'm not a fan of Roseanne Barr and like Samantha Bee, I feel the both should have been given second chances by their respective networks. Since the repercussions of their actions have differed significantly, we now have to run into the debates about consistency, networks' bias, etc. It'll be interesting to see if this lack of consistency continues moving forward. If so, for the first time in a very long time, I may have to agree with conservatives about there being a bias against them in at least one instance.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/05/29/roseanne-barr-apologizes-racially-charged-tweets-obama-adviser/650973002/
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/03/media/samantha-bee-addresses-controversy/index.html
http://ew.com/tv/2018/06/02/bill-maher-roseanne-barr-trump-orangutan/
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