Comedian Trevor Noah has finally explained why he made a joke about Aboriginal women being ugly – but still refuses to apologise for telling it.
Footage of the now Daily Show host making the joke about the appearance of Indigenous women in a 2013 stand up show resurfaced earlier this month.
Noah, who is currently touring Australia, appeared on weekly radio show Wild Black Women on Brisbane station 98.9FM on Friday morning- where the presenters Chelsea Bond and Angelina Hurley explained how the joke was hurtful.
Trevor Noah appeared on community radio show Wild Black Women on Brisbane station 98.9FM on Friday morning, where he said a 2013 controversial joke he made had been taken out of context
In the joke, Noah said: ‘Women of every race can be beautiful.
‘And I know some of you are sitting there now going, ”Oh Trevor… I’ve never seen a beautiful Aborigine”.
‘But you know what you say? You say, “Yet.” Because you haven’t seen all of them, right?’
Noah refused to apologise for making the joke on the show, saying that ‘People have cut out the context of the joke because of expediecy on the internet, headlines and clickbait’
‘Plus it’s not always about looks, maybe Aborigine women do special things, maybe they’ll just like, jump on top of you,’ Noah concluded, before imitating the sound of a didgeridoo while inferring oral sex.
While the South African comic admitted the joke had taught him a lot, he stopped short of making an apology.
He said: ‘My intention was to try and create a world where I said all women are beautiful.
In the 2013 joke, footage of which has recently emerged, Noah joked about Aboriginal women being considered ugly and imitated oral sex
‘I don’t believe anybody can say anybody is unattractive as a group – and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
‘People have cut out the context of the joke because of expediecy on the internet, headlines and clickbait.’
Hurley said the joke’s logic made it so offensive, while Bond said it had ‘currency for certain people – whether or not you (Noah) intended it to’.
Noah appeared on Triple J’s drive-time show in July and said if he were to make the joke again ‘he would make it better’ and thanked people for educating him on ‘how differently it can be seen in Australia’.
He also refused to apologise in the appearance, though.
When the footage emerged, social media erupted with calls for the comedian’s Australian tour to be boycotted.
One Twitter user said: ‘How dare you call the women of our families such words. Don’t make us the butt of your joke for some cheap laughs.
Another accused him of grossly objectifying First Nations Australian women for a ‘joke’.
‘An official apology is in order before you even step on our land.’