<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jon-stewarts-new-apple-tv-show-rumored-to-be-a-huge-flop-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Stewart</a>&#8216;s latest talk show is reportedly coming to an end following creative differences between the former &#8220;Daily Show&#8221; host and Apple&#8217;s streaming service — where his show &#8220;The Problem&#8221; has run for two seasons.
Sources told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/business/media/jon-stewart-the-problem-ends.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> that Stewart and Apple decided to part ways after the TV host became frustrated with being &#8220;hamstrung&#8221; over guests and possible topics that would be discussed on the show, specifically regarding China and artificial intelligence. Another source suggested that the upcoming 2024 presidential campaign could lead to more creative differences.
Stewart reportedly told members of his staff on Thursday that the show was over after production on the eight-episode third season had already gotten underway with filming soon to take place, sources told the outlet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Apple Reportedly Cancels Jon Stewart’s Show Over His AI and China Talking Points <a href="https://t.co/GufzY8nW7F">https://t.co/GufzY8nW7F</a> <a href="https://t.co/b3WzpgFSNM">pic.twitter.com/b3WzpgFSNM</a>
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gizmodo/status/1715381006239506668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
&#8220;The Problem with Jon Stewart&#8221; debuted on Apple in 2021 after the political commentator walked away from the popular Comedy Central series &#8220;The Daily Show&#8221; in 2015.
Sources spoke to the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jon-stewart-the-problem-canceled-apple-creative-differences-1235623235/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood Reporter</a> and said concerns over certain topics had led executives to speak to Stewart about needing to be &#8220;aligned&#8221; on the show. Sources close to Stewart told THR that he wanted to have full creative control of the series and after the tech giant &#8220;threatened to cancel the series&#8221; over the disputes, he said he&#8217;d rather walk away from the show than do it with his hands tied.
In 2020, the comedian signed on with Apple for a multi-year pact that included his talk show &#8220;The Problem&#8221; along with other development projects via his Busboy Productions banner, THR noted.
The first season of &#8220;The Problem&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/business/media/jon-stewart-the-problem-ends.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struggled</a> to gain traction, with the show&#8217;s viewership lagging well behind competitors and losing viewers with each episode, according to an April 2022 <a href="https://www.bqprime.com/onweb/jon-stewart-s-the-problem-on-apple-tv-joins-streaming-talk-show-slump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
Some changes were made for the second season, and new episodes were released on a weekly basis, with some show clips going viral. During the series&#8217; time on the air, &#8220;The Problem&#8221; earned five Emmy nominations, including for talk series and writing, THR noted.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Jon Stewart’s Latest Talk Show Comes To An End Following Creative Differences: Report

Jon Stewart’s Talk Show Return Comes To An End Following Creative Differences: Report

Apple

Celebrities

Hollywood

Jon Stewart

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pentagon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pentagon can&#8217;t explain why it has failed</a> an audit five times in a row, nor what happened to billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayers&#8217; dollars, and you ask them about potential corruption, their main defense is to insult your intelligence. Even the beloved leftist Jon Stewart received that treatment as he tread too closely to the topic during an interview with the Department of Defense&#8217;s number two in command.
Stewart recently sat down with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks for an interview on C-SPAN. During that conversation, Stewart brought up<a href="https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2022/11/16/dod-fails-audit-cites-ukraine-as-teachable-moment-in-accountability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the Pentagon&#8217;s inability to keep its books straight</a>, but Hicks denied that its failure was in any way sign of corruption or irresponsibility.
&#8220;The ability to pass an audit or, the fact that the DoD has not passed an audit is not suggestive of waste, fraud, and abuse. That is completely false, right there,&#8221; Hicks said during the back and forth, in a rather dismissive tone.
&#8220;So, what it is suggestive of?&#8221; Stewart replied.
&#8220;It’s suggestive that we can’t – we don’t have an accurate inventory that we can pull up of what we have where,&#8221; she responded defiantly. &#8220;That is not the same as saying, &#8216;We can’t do that because waste, fraud, and abuse has occurred.'&#8221;
Of course, a sharp observer would question how she can so definitively say that &#8220;waste, fraud, and abuse&#8221; has not occurred when the Pentagon does not have reliable data on the topic, by their own admission. Stewart wasn&#8217;t done though, and offered a reasonable rebuttal.
&#8220;So, in my world, that’s waste,&#8221; he said.
Hicks didn&#8217;t get it, asking, &#8220;How is that waste?&#8221;
&#8220;If I give you a billion dollars and you can’t tell me what happened to it, that to me is wasteful,&#8221; the former Comedy Central host explained. &#8220;That means you are not responsible. But if you can’t tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think? And when there has been reporting – I mean, this is not, look, I’m not saying this is on you and that you caused this.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks loses composure when pressed about government fraud, waste, and abuse <a href="https://t.co/SBajxUOJpH">pic.twitter.com/SBajxUOJpH</a>
&mdash; unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) <a href="https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1645185065427795968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
As numerous people pointed out on Twitter, Stewart often behaves as a de facto propagandist for the Democratic Party. He asked a pretty straightforward question that was met with contempt. In turn, the Biden administration&#8217;s incompetence at best and willful obtuseness at worst were exposed. Why is it up to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-family-got-over-a-million-from-china-but-nobody-in-the-democrat-media-complex-cares" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrat-Media Complex-friendly</a> comedian to shed light on potential corruption?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This video shows why the media is the way it is. Government officials can’t even respond to BASIC questions from fellow stooges of the regime like Jon Stewart. He poses not threat. He coddles them. But even basic questioning and it’s a meltdown. Imagine if we had a real press. <a href="https://t.co/SNZYPQc4HX">https://t.co/SNZYPQc4HX</a>
&mdash; Cernovich (@Cernovich) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1645190523957936128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-forget-about-ukrainian-aid-oversight-it-is-a-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden Admin: Forget About Ukrainian Aid Oversight, ‘It Is A War’</a>

Jon Stewart, Kathleen Hicks

The Pentagon Really Doesn’t Like Being Asked Why It Has Failed An Audit Five Times In A Row

The Pentagon Really Doesn't Like Being Asked Why It Has Failed An Audit Fiven Times In A Row

Biden Administration

Corruption

Department of Defense

Federal Government

Military

Pentagon

Remember when social media platforms forbade anyone from even suggesting that the COVID virus may have leaked from a lab in China that was studying coronaviruses?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
But that was way back then. Now, much of the COVID narrative is falling apart — new studies have suggested that masks don&#8217;t work, lockdowns were ineffectual, the vaccine is now mostly ineffective, and the U.S. Energy Department says that it&#8217;s likely the Wuhan lab was the source of the virus.
One person who&#8217;s been following the whole saga is Bill Maher, host of HBO&#8217;s &#8220;Real Time.&#8221;
&#8220;I feel like the people who were the dissenters are looking pretty good. I was one of them,&#8221; Maher said during a panel discussion on his show Friday night. &#8220;I remember getting a lot of s*** from a lot of places.&#8221;
A guest on the show, comedian and Rumble host Russell Brand, jumped in, saying dissent &#8220;is a great duty around all topics&#8221; as he criticized those who are &#8220;too desperate to shut down a conversation.&#8221; That, he said, actually results in the &#8220;ironic&#8221; rejection of science and inquiry.
&#8220;The problem I feel that we had is that only experimentation was taking place that was beneficial to certain interests,&#8221; Brand said. &#8220;Only arguments were being advanced that were beneficial to certain interests. Only regulations were being imposed that were beneficial to certain interests.&#8221;
&#8220;The Wuhan lab leak theory being just one example — [top COVID official Dr. Anthony] Fauci himself was seriously considering that this was a likely origin for the virus,&#8221; the actor said.
&#8220;How could it not be a possibility?&#8221; Maher said incredulously. &#8220;It&#8217;s a lab in Wuhan where the virus started that studied the virus and was doing gain of function research on the virus. How could it not be?!&#8221;
Another guest on the show, liberal MSNBC analyst John Heilemann toed the party line, blaming former President Donald Trump for &#8220;politicizing&#8221; the issue and putting the lab-leak theory in doubt.
&#8220;If you go back to that time, why do people seize on the notion that they&#8217;ll reject the lab-leak theory? Because like everything else in COVID, Donald Trump politicized it from day one,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;His thing in that first two weeks was &#8216;kung flu.&#8217; And it was not just that it started in a lab, but then that the Chinese had released it on the world, that it was a bioweapon. This wasn&#8217;t a leak. It was just not like there was an accident in the lab. The notion that was put forward by the administration in some case was there was political interest to make China the villain,&#8221; Heilemann said.
But Maher pushed back. &#8220;So everybody else has to take his bait like that and double down on stupid?&#8221; he said.
Brand piled on, saying it wasn&#8217;t just Trump who politicized the virus.
&#8220;It seems that it&#8217;s not solely the responsibility of Donald Trump that this issue has become politicized. When we take the issue of natural immunity, the efficacy of masks, it&#8217;s difficult not to posit that perhaps increasingly a centralized authority becomes subject to inquiry that has never before face to because of the advancement of technology, because of our media ability to communicate, they are doubling down on authoritarianism,&#8221; Brand said.
Maher&#8217;s criticism follows that of Jon Stewart, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who once hosted &#8220;The Daily Show.&#8221; He was roundly ripped by fellow liberals when he vehemently (and in a quite funny way) declared in June 2021 that the COVID virus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China.
He felt vindicated when the U.S. Energy Department said this week the virus likely emerged from the lab.
&#8220;The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;My bigger problem with that was, I thought it was a pretty good bit that expressed kind of how I felt, and the two things that came out of it were, I’m racist against Asian people, and how dare I align myself with the alt-right,&#8221; Stewart said.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – January 18, 2017

COVID ‘Dissenters Are Looking Pretty Good,’ Bill Maher Says

COVID 'Dissenters Are Looking Pretty Good,' Bill Maher Says

Bill Maher

COVID

COVID-19

Lockdowns

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jon-stewart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Stewart</a>, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who once hosted &#8220;The Daily Show,&#8221; was ripped by fellow liberals when he vehemently (and in a quite funny way) declared nearly two years ago that the COVID virus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China.
That was in June 2021. He took endless guff from critics.
Turns out he was right — at least according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Department.
&#8220;First of all, I wasn’t waiting on the Department of Energy to weigh in on this,&#8221; Stewart said this week on his podcast. And he pointed out that he was doing what humans do: Pondering. He wondered why the virus came from a place where there just happened to be a laboratory studying coronaviruses &#8212; like COVID.
&#8220;The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My bigger problem with that was, I thought it was a pretty good bit that expressed kind of how I felt, and the two things that came out of it were, I’m racist against Asian people, and how dare I align myself with the alt-right.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today <a href="https://twitter.com/jonstewart?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JonStewart</a> talks to some of our staff about the news that the COVID-19 virus may, in fact, have leaked from a lab in China and what it reveals about the problem with the media narrative machine. Full episode drops Wednesday on <a href="https://twitter.com/ApplePodcasts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ApplePodcasts</a> <a href="https://t.co/tsaLUYzIRl">pic.twitter.com/tsaLUYzIRl</a>
&mdash; The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheProblem/status/1630307406390390784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That&#8217;s what happens when you question the conventional &#8220;wisdom&#8221; being pressed by liberal media &#8212; while social media supresses anything that runs counter to that wisdom.
Stewart let loose on his critics who blasted him back in June 2021. &#8220;The part that I don’t like about it is the absolutes and the dismissive, like, ‘f*** you, I’m done with you,&#8217; &#8216;I will never forgive you, you have crossed an unforgivable line.&#8217; &#8216;You’ve expressed an opinion that is antithetical to mine, or not mine,’” Stewart said.
<a class="c-link" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-4883">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the COVID virus most likely originated from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report from the U.S. Energy Department.
The report, which was included in an update to a 2021 document by the Director of National Intelligence&#8217;s office, was recently delivered to the White House and top lawmakers in Congress. Sources told the Journal that the updated assessment from the Energy Department is the result of new intelligence.
That report followed a declassified intelligence report released in November 2021 by the FBI that concluded with &#8220;moderate confidence&#8221; that the virus emerged after a &#8220;laboratory accident.&#8221;
In a wild appearance on &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; with Stephen Colbert, an animated Stewart went on a rant about the origin of COVID.
Toeing the liberal line, Colbert asked: &#8220;Do you mean perhaps there’s a chance that this was created in a lab? If there’s evidence, I’d love to hear it.”
“A chance? Oh my god!” an incredulous Stewart replied. “There’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China, what do we do? Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab! The disease is the same name as the lab! That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”
Stewart then pretended to be a Wuhan scientist, claiming the virus emerged when “a pangolin kissed a turtle” or “a bat flew into the cloaca of a turkey, and then it sneezed into my chili and now we all have coronavirus.”
He went on to note the absurdity of the virus emerging in a city with a coronavirus lab.
“There’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania — what do you think happened?” he said. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean … or it’s the f***ing chocolate factory. Maybe that’s it!”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jon Stewart On Vaccine Science And The Wuhan Lab Theory" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSfejgwbDQ8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Jon Stewart 911 Fund

‘How Dare I?’: A Vindicated Jon Stewart, Who Long Ago Declared COVID Came From Wuhan Lab, Rips Critics

 'How Dare I?': A Vindicated Jon Stewart, Who Long Ago Declared COVID Came From Wuhan Lab, Rips Critics

Stephen Colbert

Wuhan Institute of Virology

Late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked the claim from the Department of Energy that a lab leak in China was likely responsible for the origin of the COVID pandemic.
The Department of Energy joined the FBI, which had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/us/politics/china-lab-leak-coronavirus-pandemic.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> with moderate confidence that COVID started accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“The Department of Energy released a new report saying a lab leak is the most likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Colbert noted. “Well, there it is. Chinese wet markets, you’re off the hook. Let’s order a round of pangolin poppers for the table. I love a nice plate of wet apps.”
“Now, if like me, you’re wondering why the Department of Energy is the one making this judgment, it’s because that agency “oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research,” Colbert said, quoting <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>, neglecting to add that the Journal prefaced that comment by writing that the Department “has considerable scientific expertise.”
“No! No! Bad Energy Department. No bio-labs until you finish building your electric car-charging stations. Stay in your lane,” Colbert snapped.
Colbert noted that four other federal agencies concluded that the pandemic was likely the result of natural transmission, then carped, “We’ll have more on this story as soon as anyone has anything they can prove.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Steve Colbert (<a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenAtHome</a>) attacks the Dept. of Energy for its investigation finding Covid likely came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology: &quot;Stay in your lane&quot; <a href="https://t.co/s50uYLZM3k">pic.twitter.com/s50uYLZM3k</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1630535593934352384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In September 2021, Colbert tried to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfejgwbDQ8">shoot down</a> Jon Stewart’s suggestion that the virus originated in Wuhan.
“Do you mean perhaps there’s a chance that this was created in a lab? There’s an investigation — “ Colbert asked.
“A chance?” Stewart mocked. “Oh my God.”
“If there’s evidence I’d love to hear,” Colbert told him.
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“There’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?” Stewart fired back. “Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan Novel Respiratory Coronavirus Lab. The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think? And then the actual scientists are like, ‘How did this?’ So wait a minute, you work at the Wuhan Respiratory Coronavirus Lab. How did this happen? And they’re like, ‘A pangolin kissed a turtle?’”
“Oh, my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania. What do you think happened?” Stewart continued. “Like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?’ Or it’s the f***ing chocolate factory!”
“It could be possible, you could be right,” Colbert said, before trying to rebut Stewart by saying, “It could be possible they have the lab in Wuhan to study the novel coronavirus diseases because in Wuhan there are a lot of novel coronavirus diseases because of the bat population.”
“I understand, it’s the local specialty,” Stewart replied. “And it’s the only place to find bats. You won’t find bats anywhere else. Oh, wait. Austin, Texas has thousands of ‘em that fly out of a cave every night. Every night at dusk. Is there a coronavirus, an Austin coronavirus?”
“And how long have you worked for Senator Ron Johnson,” Colbert tried lamely, referring to Johnson’s <a href="applewebdata://68E8BFB4-6349-4387-92AD-C27A397B4130/v">attempts</a> to obtain information about a possible connection between the Wuhan lab and the coronavirus.

Colbert Mocks Energy Department Saying Chinese Lab Leak Likely Started COVID

Department of Energy

Health

Left-leaning comedians are a dime a dozen.
It’s also true that some woke jokesters are more extreme than others. Stand-up stars may try to appeal to the widest audience, meaning they’ll dial it back on the partisan jokes. However, plenty of comedians have become activists, especially following the 2016 election.
Many comedians claim to have no explicit bias, saying they don’t belong to either party while technically espousing views that are way more liberal than conservative. Ahead, these are the most outspoken leftist comedians who currently think they’re hilarious.
<h3>Jon Stewart</h3>
Back in the late 90s, Stewart took over hosting Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and quickly became one of the preeminent political comedy stars in the country. He was a satirist, but his young, liberal, male audience trusted him to tell the truth about what was going on in politics.
In a 2002 <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/11/is-it-funny-yet">interview</a> with The New Yorker, Stewart described himself as the voice of “the disenfranchised center.” But even then his politics leaned left. At one point the late night host called his beliefs more independent or socialist than Democrat.
Later, Stewart <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-05-30/late-night-jon-stewart-clarifies-his-support-for-socialism">clarified</a> that while he doesn’t support “state control of industry or collectivizing farms,” he is in favor of the single-payer healthcare system and was a huge proponent of the Affordable Care Act.
Over the years, Stewart became more cynical and bitter and less funny. His new AppleTV+ show “The Problem With Jon Stewart” has mostly been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jon-stewarts-new-apple-tv-show-rumored-to-be-a-huge-flop-report">a ratings disaster</a> kept afloat solely because of nostalgic fans who miss “The Daily Show” and the ignorance of youth.
<h3>Jimmy Kimmel</h3>
Speaking of universal healthcare supporters, fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is yet another example of a leftist comedian. The 54-year-old “Jimmy Kimmel Live” star used the story of his son being born with a congenital heart condition to make the case for overhauling healthcare in the U.S.
“If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he <a href="https://youtu.be/MmWWoMcGmo0">said</a> in 2017. “I think that’s something that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”
He’s also in favor of “common sense” gun laws, which he <a href="https://youtu.be/ruYeBXudsds">spoke</a> about following the Las Vegas shooting. 
“What I’m talking about tonight isn’t about gun control; it’s about common sense,” Kimmel said at the time. “Common sense says no good will ever come from allowing a person to have weapons that can take down 527 Americans at a concert. Common sense says you don’t let those who suffer from mental illness buy guns.”
<h3>John Oliver</h3>
Emmy Award winner John Oliver is British but has become a staple on American television thanks to stints on “The Daily Show” and the HBO series “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
Though he’s not originally from this country, Oliver endorsed Joe Biden for president and openly celebrated his and Kamala Harris&#8217;s win in the 2020 US presidential election. He described Donald Trump’s defeat as a “reverse 9/11” because of all the celebrating in the city of Manhattan.
&#8220;It was like that all day here in New York,&#8221; he said, per <a href="https://www.distractify.com/p/john-oliver-political-views">Distractify</a>. &#8220;There was a mood here that can only be described as a reverse 9/11. Why? Because it combined complete euphoria, an abiding disgust for Rudy Giuliani, and this time people actually were dancing on the rooftops in New Jersey. It was a really good day. Never forget.&#8221;
In 2021, Oliver <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hbo-host-john-oliver-calls-parents-opposed-to-school-mask-mandates-idiots">called</a> parents who opposed school mask mandates “idiots,” and said “We are only fighting about masks in school right now because there are a bunch of foolish adults who have decided not to get the vaccine, and to all of them, I can only say, to quote a bunch of upsettingly loud idiots, ‘We know who you are, and you’re the f***ing problem.’”
<h3>Samantha Bee</h3>
It may be controversial to describe Samantha Bee as a comedian seeing as how very few people find her funny. But the far-left activist has certainly expressed her feelings on a wide range of topics such as gender theory and women’s rights.
“This year, we’re seeing a tidal wave of transphobic legislation targeting kids, largely in retaliation for President Biden’s executive order to protect trans rights,” she said, telling conservatives to “mind their own f***ing business” when it came to protecting female sports, per <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-samantha-bee-tells-republicans-to-stop-transphobic-bills-and-mind-their-own-fing-business">The Daily Wire</a>. 
“They falsely claim trans women automatically have more testosterone and therefore more muscle mass than cis women,” Bee continued. “But studies don’t show a consistent relationship between testosterone and athletic performance.”
The comedian accused Republicans of “fear-mongering” in regard to trans sports debates just like they did with bathroom bills.
<h3>Lewis Black</h3>
No one seems angrier than a screaming Lewis Black, who made his brand of “rage comedy” into a recognizable brand. He’s also a <a href="https://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/dp-xpm-20130920-2013-09-20-dp-fea-lewis-black-0920-20130920-story.html">self-described</a> socialist who has no love for either party but is pro-gun control and pro-healthcare reform. Basically, Black hates everyone – especially Republicans.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve done something with these two political parties that really is unbelievable. No other country has done it. No other country,” he <a href="https://www.wpr.org/comedian-lewis-blacks-conundrum-how-do-you-satirize-satirical">observed</a> during a standup act last year. “We used to have parties that argued ideas. Not anymore. Now we have two separate political parties that actually exist in two totally different realities.&#8221;
That’s one thing this left-leaning comedian gets absolutely right.
<h3>David Cross</h3>
Best known for his role on “Arrested Development,” David Cross is also a leftist who is happy to bring politics into his standup routine, even if it means people walking out of his shows all the time. During a 2016 <a href="https://www.avclub.com/david-cross-on-why-his-comedy-tour-pissed-off-people-ri-1798250771">interview</a> with The A.V. Club, the comedian described himself as, “more socialist Democrat” than a “centrist” like Hillary Clinton.
“I think regulation for banks and those platforms that Bernie Sanders had are good for the whole of America. I’m not going to benefit from free college education, but I think all those things are good for the country,” he said.
<h3>Sarah Silverman</h3>
Like so many others, Sarah Silverman became especially political during the 2016 election, aggressively campaigning first for Bernie Sanders and then accepting Hillary Clinton as her next best option. She supported Sanders again in 2020.
Silverman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, though she said she’s become increasingly fed up with both parties.
“I just, I don’t know that I want to be associated with any party. I really, I think I don’t want to be associated with any party anymore,” Silverman told <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/15/sarah-silverman-is-right-democrats-are-the-party-of-absolutism/">viewers</a> in 2021. “It just, it comes with too much baggage. Every party, it comes with so much f***ing baggage that no ideas can be taken at face value.”

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No Longer Dialing It Back: 7 Woke Comedians Possessed By Politics

comedian

Comedy

Jimmy Kimmel

John Oliver

Readers Pass

Samantha Bee

Sarah Silverman

Hollywood’s love affair with free speech ended some time after Donald Trump took the oath of office.
Slowly but surely the industry pulled back on the issue it once clung to like a statue on Oscar night. Industry players pled allegiance to the woke state, canceled problematic art (and each other), and demanded that a sitting president get bounced from social media.
Late night comics even chuckled as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/dr-seuss-stephen-colbert-late-show-racist-b1811462.html">beloved authors like Dr. Seuss</a> got the cultural boot.
It wasn’t always this way.
Hollywood once championed free speech on a variety of platforms. The industry understood the vital role speech plays in both the country at large and for their craft. Let’s look back at five times Hollywood embraced free speech and hope Tinsel Town comes to its senses and renews its love affair with free expression.
<h4>“The American President”</h4>
The 1995 rom com imagined a single U.S. leader falling in love with a lobbyist (Annette Bening). That novel twist combined with the impressive pairing of director Rob Reiner (“This Is Spinal Tap”) and writer Aaron Sorkin (“A Few Good Men”) earned raves from critics.
The film’s emotional finale used free speech as <a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html">a cudgel against the protagonist’s political opponent.</a>
<blockquote>&#8220;For the record, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is &#8220;Why aren&#8217;t you, Bob?&#8221;
…America isn&#8217;t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You&#8217;ve gotta want it bad, &#8217;cause it&#8217;s gonna put up a fight. It&#8217;s gonna say, You want free speech? Let&#8217;s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who&#8217;s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.&#8221; </blockquote>
Reiner and Sorkin were, and remain, two of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberals. Would they pool their talents for a message like that today? That’s rhetorical, since Reiner was one of many <a href="https://twitter.com/robreiner/status/1400875366047043585?lang=bg">cheering President Donald Trump’s social media banishment.</a>
Guess we won’t be seeing &#8220;The American President 2” anytime soon.
<h4>Neil Young&#8217;s 2006 “Freedom of Speech” Tour</h4>
It’s an understatement to say that veteran rocker Neil Young was <a href="https://genius.com/3351240">no fan</a> of President George W. Bush during the Iraq War days And he had plenty of A-list company. Young similarly rebelled against efforts to silence the president’s critics during a time of war.
Toward that end, <a href="https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/02/02/crosby-stills-nash-young-csny-spotify-boycott-joe-rogan">Young rejoined</a> David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash to promote free speech and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/flashback-neil-young-participated-freedom-of-speech-tour-censorship-joe-rogan">reaffirm his right to protest as he saw fit</a>.
<blockquote>&#8220;Those who feel the way we do had some hope and those who don’t feel the way we do were angry that the change happened. And those people have got a voice, and they have a reason for feeling the way they do. They strongly believe in the convictions. They believe in the military … they believe that we’re doing the right thing for the world, and they have every reason to be respected for their beliefs.”</blockquote>
Flash forward to 2022 and Young is leading an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/just-in-spotify-to-pull-neil-young-music-after-ultimatum-letter-demanding-rogan-be-removed">unsuccessful charge to silence</a> Spotify superstar Joe Rogan for sharing pandemic information that didn’t mirror government-approved narratives.
<h4>Tim Robbins versus Dubya</h4>
Young wasn’t the only liberal rallying for free speech during that era. Actor Tim Robbins similarly <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Tim-Robbins-pours-his-anger-into-an-anti-war-play-2510013.php">protested</a> Bush’s war efforts, a move that <a href="http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/2003/0409/1536711.html">cost</a> him an appearance at a “Bull Durham” reunion.
The 1988 baseball romance cast Robbins as “Nuke” LaLoosh, a flame-throwing pitcher struggling to get his mental approach in line with his talents. His anti-war comments, along with those of his co-star Susan Sarandon (Robbins’ partner at the time), convinced the Baseball Hall of Fame to <a href="https://ew.com/article/2003/04/10/cooperstown-disinvites-antiwar-sarandon-robbins/">disinvite the duo from its 15th anniversary celebration</a> for the film.
Robbins teamed up with the ACLU, an organization which once stood proudly on behalf of free speech rights, to <a href="https://www.nyclu.org/en/letter-baseball-hall-fame-over-cancellation-bull-durham-movie-anniversary-celebration">blast the decision</a>. The move “reflects a disregard for the value of dissent in a free society. Indeed, you offer a vision of free speech that is deeply incompatible with the concept of ‘uninhibited, robust and wide open’ debate – a concept that is basic to our democracy.”
<h4>Comedy Post 9/11</h4>
Comedians played an important role in the days and weeks after the September 11 attacks. “Saturday Night Live” and “The Late Show with David Letterman” gently <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/how-late-night-tv-reacted-9-11-impact-it-has-t229754">brought humor back </a>into our lives after the shocking terrorist attacks. They made it acceptable to laugh again after so much heartache and pain.
Other comics didn’t tread so carefully. They pushed comedy conventions much harder, understanding that free speech doesn’t evaporate in times of extreme duress. Hollywood even made a documentary on the subject – “Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11.” Comedians from that era shared how they processed their grief and rage, and why they didn’t pull punches when it came to material intersecting with the tragedy.
They were right.
The extreme irony? Some of the comedians featured in the documentary are now part of the current cancel culture brigade <a href="https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1278-canceled-comedy-w-kliph-nesteroff-and-david-bianculli">(Marc Maron</a>) or pretend cancel culture  doesn’t exist (<a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/jon-stewart-cancel-culture-myth/">Jon Stewart</a>).
<h4>“The People vs. Larry Flynt”</h4>
The 1996 drama from legendary director Milos Forman celebrated the rise, fall, and legal victory of Hustler pornographer Larry Flynt.
The New York Times called it Forman’s “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/22/movies/a-free-speech-hero-it-s-not-that-simple.html">raucous hymn to the First Amendment</a>.”
<blockquote>The movie, shown to acclaim at the New York Film Festival this fall and opening in theaters on Friday, has been critically embraced not only as an artistic tour de force but as a kind of democratic morality play.</blockquote>
Flynt was the perfect symbol for free speech. He was rude, crude and outrageous, and few would embrace his lifestyle choices. Yet defending speech one agrees with is always easy. Rushing to Flynt’s side, given his vulgar behavior, is another matter.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Toto – Five Times Hollywood Cheered Free Speech

Five Times Hollywood Defended Free Speech

Aaron Sorkin

ACLU

Neil Young

Rob Reiner

Susan Sarandon

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jon-stewart">Jon Stewart</a> and conservative journalist Jack Posobiec had heated words over a controversially crafted bill that would provide funds for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/veterans">sick veterans</a>, but managed to hug it out moments later.
The former late-night funny man and the Navy intelligence officer-turned journalist have been sparring on Twitter for days over a bill intended to provide $400 billion for veterans who suffered a wide range of ailments from exposure to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Republicans have objected to the bill because they say House Democrats used an accounting trick that the Congressional Budget Office said could add a minimum of $275 billion in unrelated spending over the next decade.
When Posobiec and Stewart met up in Washington Monday, it was on.
&#8220;These people have suffered for 15 years!&#8221; Stewart shouted at Posobiec, pointing a finger in his face.
Posobiec, who stayed calm, asked Stewart why he was attacking him, given that they both unquestionably support health care for veterans.
&#8220;Because you&#8217;re a f&#8212;ing troll!&#8221; yelled back Stewart, who has advocated for veterans sickened by burn pits on Capitol Hill.
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, passed the Senate in June, but had to go through again after House Democrats made key changes. Senate Republicans last Wednesday filibustered the <a class="Link" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/gop-senators-block-bill-veterans-toxins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">measure</a>, effectively blocking it. Their reason is an added Democratic provision they say would move appropriated funds from discretionary to mandatory spending. Mandatory expenditures would no longer fall under annual appropriations and could conceivably be renewed automatically every year with little or no oversight, say Republicans.
Posobiec has spent much of the last week trying to make this point to Stewart on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jon Stewart is Unhinged. Watch him scream and swear in <a href="https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackPosobiec</a>’s face.
 <a href="https://t.co/AWGRB0rHwK">pic.twitter.com/AWGRB0rHwK</a>
&mdash; Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1554169156194516993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, have also been making the case that the GOP supports the aid to veterans but not under the new terms proposed by Democrats. Sen. <a class="Link" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/pat-toomey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pat Toomey</a> (R-PA) said Sunday that he would vote for the legislation if the gimmick can be cut. He proposed an amendment that would put guardrails on the $400 billion, satisfying GOP concerns and potentially allowing the bill to move forward.
&#8220;What I want to do is treat it for government accounting purposes the way we have always treated it for government accounting purposes, because if we change it to the way that the Democrats want, it creates room in future budgets for $400 billion of totally unrelated extraneous spending on other matters,&#8221; Toomey <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/jon-stewart-clashes-cruz-over-burn-pits-bill">said</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I actually give props to Stewart for coming around to doing the right thing here after his ridiculous outburst. Few people can climb down, and we need more of that. <a href="https://t.co/CaHAgQvdKt">https://t.co/CaHAgQvdKt</a>
&mdash; Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1554172755628756994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Later in the day, Posobiec and Stewart buried the hatchet in a scene also caught on video.
&#8220;Jon Stewart and I have decided to come to an agreement, have we not, Jon?&#8221; Posobiec asked.
&#8220;Yes sir,&#8221; said Stewart. &#8220;I lost my temper a little bit, I felt like I was being trolled, and I realized the important thing is just got to get this done for these guys, and get them over the finish line to get them the health care they need.&#8221;
The bill would establish a presumption that military service caused 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to the smoke from burn pits, fire pits used in war zones to dispose of various types of waste, many of them toxic.
</div>

WATCH: Jon Stewart, Jack Posobiec Fight, Bury Hatchet Over Vet Burn Pit Relief

House Democrats

U.S. Senate

Veterans

After comedian Jon Stewart <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1552688111347552256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1552688111347552256%7Ctwgr%5E9c21daeff6e7770e26ed9bcdbd7a65b8a62ddeb3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Fjon-stewart-blasts-gop-over-vote-against-vets-1389372%2F">ripped</a> Senate Republicans as “mother***ers” and singled out Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) as a “f***ing coward” for temporarily blocking a bill because Democrats wanted to sneak $400 billion in discretionary funding into the bill, Toomey responded on Sunday by pointedly targeting Stewart’s sense of self-importance.
Stewart had hysterically ranted against Toomey after he and other GOP senators temporarily blocked the passage of the PACT Act, which expands healthcare benefits for veterans and 9/11 first responders who had been exposed to such as toxins found in burn pits.
“First of all, this is the oldest trick in Washington,” Toomey told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “People take a sympathetic group of Americans — and it could be children with an illness; it could be victims of crime; it could be veterans who&#8217;ve been exposed to toxic chemicals — craft a bill to address their problems, and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare Republicans to do anything about it, because they know they will unleash their allies in the media and maybe a pseudo-celebrity to make up false accusations to try to get us to just swallow what shouldn&#8217;t be there.”
Stewart had also attacked Toomey by railing, “God knows what pot of gold he’s stepping into to lobby this government to s*** on more people.” He noted that the bill had been passed on June 14, then continued ranting of Toomey, “he is a f***ing coward,” mocking him as “Patriot Pat Toomey.”
Regarding the charge that the bill had been passed in mid-June, Toomey told Tapper how the Democrats were manipulating the situation: “We were promised that we&#8217;d have an opportunity to offer an amendment to change this. And then, of course, that was reneged on, so people hadn&#8217;t had a chance to be socialized about this.”
“Let me be very clear,” Toomey continued. “Republicans are not opposed to any of the substance of the PACT Act. &#8230; My honest Democratic colleagues will fully acknowledge that my objection, and if I get my way, I get my change, it will not change by one penny any spending on any veterans program. What I&#8217;m trying to do is change a government accounting methodology that is designed to allow our Democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree that has nothing to do with veterans and that won&#8217;t be in the veterans space.”
“We can resolve this with an amendment vote,” Toomey noted. “But some of the Democrats don&#8217;t even want to have an amendment vote. &#8230; There&#8217;s some Democrats that simply want to say, no, you don&#8217;t get to change anything. We don&#8217;t have any more debate. We don&#8217;t have amendments. We&#8217;re just going to jam this through. So that&#8217;s the source of the tension.”
“This is why they do this sort of thing, Jake, because it gets very deep in the weeds and very confusing for people very quickly,” Toomey pointed out. “It&#8217;s not really about veterans spending. It&#8217;s about what category of government bookkeeping they put the veterans spending in. &#8230; What I want to do is treat it for government accounting purposes the way we have always treated it for government accounting purposes, because, if we change it to the way that the Democrats want, it creates room in future budgets for $400 billion of totally unrelated extraneous spending on other matters.”

Collage Maker-01-Aug-2022-01.22-AM

Jon Stewart Calls GOP Sen. Pat Toomey ‘F***ing Coward.’ Toomey Mocks Him: ‘Pseudo-Celebrity’

Pat Toomey

Having turned the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-courts-abortion-decision-nearly-identical-to-leaked-draft">regulation of abortion</a> back over to the states, the pro-life majority on the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court">U.S. Supreme Court</a> is coming for your kidneys next, according to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jon-stewart">Jon Stewart</a>.
The Comedy Central host-turned-podcaster made the legal leap last week on &#8220;The Problem With Jon Stewart&#8221; while discussing the high court’s recent ruling overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case and ending the federally guaranteed right to abortion.
“You may say I&#8217;m being crazy,” Stewart began, before reasoning that if life trumps personal autonomy, and organ donations save lives, the pro-life movement could now “go to a person and say, ‘Give me one of your kidneys because it’s going to save this person’s life.’”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yes, you&#39;re &#39;crazy&#39;: <a href="https://twitter.com/jonstewart?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonstewart</a> claims overturning Roe now means the government can forcefully harvest your organs <a href="https://t.co/ouM5s826F9">https://t.co/ouM5s826F9</a>
&mdash; Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1544466291469205505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Stewart went on to blast the Court as corrupt, calling it the “Fox News of justice,” and agreed when one of his writers called SCOTUS “bulls***.”
The Supreme Court on June 24 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-leaves-abortion-restrictions-to-states">voted 6-3 to uphold a Mississippi law</a> limiting abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. In doing so, a five-justice majority overruled Roe v. Wade and determined that the right to allow, regulate or even ban abortion resides with states, not the federal government.
Stewart accused conservative justices of “perjury” by refusing to disclose their opinions about abortion during their Senate confirmation hearings.
“It would’ve been one thing if [the justices] sat in the confirmation hearings and said, ‘My entire ideological bearing is that life begins at conception and that abortion should be made legal,’” Stewart said. “And at the very least, you would respect their honesty and integrity, but this makes the Court a cynical pursuit.”
Judicial nominees from across the ideological spectrum have long been careful to say how they would rule on particular issues, mindful of the fact that cases that come before the Court are fact-specific. Newest member of the Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-a-biologist-supreme-court-nominee-says-she-cant-define-the-word-woman">famously refused to answer</a> when asked what a woman is during her confirmation hearing.
Stewart also claimed the Right has no true legal scholars and that constitutional originalists like justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito hide behind the words of the Constitution.
“The reason they call themselves originalists is the same reason they quote the Bible: it’s dogma, it’s dead people, it’s people you cannot argue with,” Stewart said. “This text is — it’s fundamentalism. It’s saying this text is sacrosanct. Even that gun s***. … None of this is ordained by God of a burning bush or any of that.”

Former Daily Show Host Jon Stewart Testifies On Need To Reauthorize The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

SCOTUS, Pro-Lifers Coming For Your Kidneys Next, Warns Jon Stewart

Roe v. Wade's Long And Brutal Legacy

Supreme Court

At a party after his appearance at the Hollywood Bowl, where he was <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/dave-chappelle-assaulted-onstage-at-hollywood-bowl/">attacked Tuesday night</a> by an assailant who carried a replica gun with a knife attached to it, comedian Dave Chappelle joked about the assailant getting what he felt he deserved.
Chappelle’s alleged assailant, Isaiah Lee, 23, jumped on stage, running toward Chappelle and barreling into him before security chased him off stage where they subdued him.
Chappelle joked at the party, “I felt good. My friends broke his arm. I felt good. How bad does a n***** have to be that Jon Stewart would stomp him?” as <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10786365/Dave-Chappelle-thanks-friends-breaking-attackers-arm.html">audio</a> obtained by The Daily Mail revealed.
“Killing that n***** would have been stupid,” he added later.
<iframe loading="lazy" id="molvideoplayer" title="MailOnline Embed Player" src="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/2679043.html" width="698" height="573" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
At the time Lee attacked Chappelle, the comedian was thanking Chris Rock, Leslie Jones and Jon Stewart, who had appeared on stage with him. Chappelle’s joke about Stewart may have been apocryphal; it is unknown whether Stewart had a hand in subduing the attacker.
On Wednesday, Chappelle released a <a href="applewebdata://3E55A9BB-1548-4A97-A477-3E2F1F77C2FE/v">statement</a> about the attack, saying:
<blockquote>Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds during the first <a href="https://deadline.com/tag/netflix-is-a-joke/">Netflix Is A Joke</a>: The Festival, and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.</blockquote>
The statement continued:
<blockquote>As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the crowd with humor before Chappelle introduced the last and featured musical guests for the evening, hip-hop artists yasiin bey and Talib Kweli, a.k.a. Black Star, who performed music from their new album – the first in nearly 24 years – which was released on Luminary. Other special comedic guests last night included Earthquake, Leslie Jones, Jeff Ross, Sebastian, Jon Stewart and Michelle Wolf.</blockquote>
After the curtain call of his show at the Bowl, Chappelle said to Jamie Foxx, who joined him on stage, “Shout out to Jamie Foxx by the way,” <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10781055/Dave-Chappelle-attacked-stage-LA.html">The Daily Mail</a> reported. “Whenever you&#8217;re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff&#8217;s hat.”
“I thought that was part of the show, I didn&#8217;t know what the f***,” Foxx replied.
“I grabbed the back of that n**** head. His hair was spongy. Absorbent,” Chappelle joked.
Foxx then saluted Chappelle: “Listen, I just want to say, this man is an absolute genius. We&#8217;ve got to make sure we protect him at all times. &#8230; For every comedian who comes out here, this means everything. You&#8217;re a genius. You&#8217;re a legend, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and we&#8217;re not going to let nothing happen to you.”
“I&#8217;ve been doing this for 35 years,” Chappelle noted, then joked, “I just stomped a n**** backstage. I&#8217;ve always wanted to do that.”

Dave Chappelle

‘How Bad Does A N***** Have To Be That Jon Stewart Would Stomp Him?’: Dave Chappelle Jokes About Man Who Attacked Him At Hollywood Bowl

Dave Chappelle jokes about Jon Stewart subduing Chappelle's assailant at the Hollywood Bowl

Assault

Hollywood Bowl

Jamie Foxx

Comedian and TV host Jon Stewart won the 2022 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Sunday.
Stewart, the 59-year-old stand-up comic who rose to national prominence as the host of &#8220;The Daily Show&#8221; from 1999 to 2015, was the 23rd person to receive the <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/marktwain/">award</a>, which &#8220;recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain.&#8221; The award was presented to Stewart at a gala event in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, which will be broadcast on PBS stations in June.
Tributes to Stewart were given by several comedians and former prize winners, including former &#8220;Daily Show&#8221; correspondents Samantha Bee, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, stand-up comedian and 2019 Mark Twain Prize winner Dave Chappelle, and rock star Bruce Springsteen, who also performed an acoustic version of his hit &#8220;Born to Run&#8221; at the ceremony. A number of other high-profile guests were also present, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bill-cosby-entertainment-arts-and-talk-shows-dave-chappelle-eb2362ca7076700492493462e78ab7ca">Associated Press</a> reported.
During his acceptance speech, Stewart joked that Hollywood and Washington, D.C., have a number of similarities. “Washington is for people who like the ego and arrogance of L.A. but who think that that city is too well-designed,” Stewart said, via the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jon-stewart-mark-twain-prize-2022-1235134621/">Hollywood Reporter</a>. He changed his tone later in the speech, saying that the future of comedy is uncertain. “There’s a lot of talk right now about what’s going to happen in comedy.&#8221; Stewart said. But the greatest threat to comedy was not &#8220;the fragility of audiences, it’s the leaders,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It’s not the Fresh Prince, it’s the crown prince.&#8221;
&#8220;Comedy is the bellwether, we’re the banana peel in the coal mine,&#8221; Stewart continued. “When a society feels under threat, comedians are who gets sent away first.” He then said that &#8220;Authoritarianism is the threat to art, theater, poetry. … What we have is fragile and precious, and the way to guard against it isn’t to change how audiences think, but to change how leaders lead.”
While Stewart celebrates his accolade after years of success, his latest project is reportedly not finding any. According to a report from Bloomberg, via The Daily Wire, Stewart&#8217;s new show, &#8220;The Problem with Jon Stewart,&#8221; has experienced a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jon-stewarts-new-apple-tv-show-rumored-to-be-a-huge-flop-report">serious decline</a> in viewership since its premiere in September and is trailing behind its competitors on broadcast and cable TV. The series premiere garnered 180,000 views in the first week, according to measurement firm Samba TV. That viewership number plummeted all the way down to 40,000 by the show&#8217;s fifth episode, which aired in March. By comparison, one episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which also aired in March pulled in 844,000 viewers. Bloomberg gave several reasons for the show&#8217;s poor ratings: the changing nature of entertainment consumption in the age of streaming; the difficulty in making timely and topical jokes on a show that is recorded well in advance; and the sporadic schedule, in which the show premiered new episodes every two weeks at first, but then went on a four-month hiatus.
Apple also defended Stewart and his audience. “We are thrilled that ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ has resonated with viewers all over the world,” head of unscripted shows and documentaries at Apple+ Molly Thompson said. “The series has sparked complex conversations about critical issues, and we’re proud to team with Jon for season two and beyond.”

23rd Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor

Jon Stewart Wins 2022 Mark Twain Prize For Humor, Even As His New Show Flops

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