Comedian Trevor Noah has refused to apologise for calling Aboriginal women ugly in a joke that has resurfaced ahead of his Australian tour.
Footage of Trevor Noah’s stand up show from 2013 emerged earlier this month, leading to calls for him to cancel his trip Down Under.
Speaking on Triple J’s drive show on Thursday, Noah refused to apologise for his comments and claimed people who are outraged by the joke ‘don’t want to listen’.
Trevor Noah (pictured) has refused to apologise for his comment about calling Aboriginal women ugly
Speaking on Triple J’s Drive Show on Thursday, Noah refused to apologise for his comments and said people want to bring things up for the sake of it
‘We live in a world where people want to unearth things that have already been unearthed,’ he told Triple J’s drive program.
‘I was responding to comments about certain women being called unflattering in South Africa. So, you know, it’s one of those things where if you were to make the joke again you would make it better.
‘When I came to Australia, I was lucky enough to meet an Aboriginal woman in one of the museums in Melbourne. She said, ‘Hey, I’ve seen your stuff and let me tell you why that joke – in Australia – was particularly hurtful’.’
Noah insisted he wasn’t trying to ‘hurt’ anyone when he told the joke and claims him addressing it is enough.
‘I’m not trying to hurt people with comedy otherwise I’d get into a different job. If I’m not trying to hurt people with the joke, then I see no reason to hold onto the joke,’ he said.
‘That’s why, you know, people have to go to find a joke from 2013 to basically speak about it. Because the joke isn’t done anymore.
‘But I understand how outrage works… people generally don’t want to listen or understand from their side. They go, no, we’re angry. So all you can do is fall back and say, hey, I’ve addressed this.’
‘But I understand how outrage works… people generally don’t want to listen or understand from their side,’ Noah said
Noah insisted he wasn’t trying to ‘hurt’ anyone when he told the joke and claims him addressing it is enough
‘All women of every race can be beautiful,’ Noah told an audience in footage which emerged on Monday.
‘And I know some of you are sitting there now going, ‘Oh Trevor, yeah, but I’ve never seen a beautiful Aborigine’, the 34-year-old joked.
‘Yeah, but you know what you say? You say ”yet”, that’s what you say; ”yet”. Because you haven’t seen all of them, right?’
‘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.
Muslim youth activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied tweeted about the outrage saying Aboriginal people are not a punchline.
‘Ah. @Trevornoah. It makes me sad when someone whose work I’ve admired turns out to be problematic in a way that’s fundamentally antithetical to the values they generally purport. First Nations people are not a punchline. Solidarity,’ she tweeted.
‘I’ve only just seen the chat about this on my timeline, and been thinking about the appropriate response. Do I say / tweet anything, I wondered? And then I remembered what I tell others – silence is complicity.’
Muslim youth activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied tweeted about the outrage saying Aboriginal people are not a punchline
Yassmin Abdel-Magied had no response to the initial comments and tweeted ‘silence is complicity’
Noah, who took on the role as The Daily Show host three years ago from Jon Stewart, initially apologised for his comments on Twitter on Monday.
The clip, which was uploaded to YouTube under the title of ‘Women of all Race are Beautiful’, was removed by The Daily Show’s David Meyer, who filed a copyright complaint against the video.
However, Daily Mail Australia obtained the original footage, and social media erupted with calls for the comedian’s upcoming Australian tour to be boycotted.
‘He grossly sexualises and objectifies First Nations Australian women for a ‘joke’,’ Katelyn Jones of the Feminism & Decolonisation Facebook page said.
‘He perpetuated incredibly harmful stereotypes … that Indigenous women aren’t beautiful, that Indigenous women are only good for their bodies; and Indigenous women are over-sexualised sex starved beings,’ Ms Jones said.
Others said Noah’s comments were ‘unacceptable’ and ‘perpetrating and encouraging racial abuse.’
‘For such a social justice warrior, your race baiting isn’t smart or witty at all. It’s simply racist. Our beautiful black women shouldn’t be treated like the punchline of a joke,’ wrote one user on Twitter.
‘I can’t bring myself to watch that, I’m so tired of Aboriginal women being used as punchlines for cheap laughs from talentless hacks,’ another person said.
‘We deserve so much better and I hope this guy falls and fades into obscurity, he doesn’t deserve a platform if he’s going to punch down like this.’
The South African-born comedian has caused controversy with previous tasteless jokes in relation to women, Jewish people and rapper Chris Brown (pictured)
The South African-born comedian who hosts the Emmy Award-winning show, caused controversy with previous tasteless jokes in relation to women, Jewish people and rapper Chris Brown.
‘You show me half my jokes from even two years ago, three years ago—I hate them,’ Noah told GQ in 2015.
‘Because you see, like, a young version of yourself. You’re like, ”Why would you say that? You idiot! That makes no sense.” Or, ‘That’s just stupid.’ Or, ”Ahh, I can’t believe I said that about a woman”.’
‘You should not like what you did back then, because that shows that you’ve grown. If you’re still doing it, that’s a scarier place to be,’ he said.
The comedian is set to touch down in Australia next month for a five-date tour beginning August 23 and including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney.
The comedian is set to touch down in Australia next month for a five-date tour beginning August 23 and including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney