Should Stephen Colbert be in hot water over Comedy Central tweet?
The internet has exploded many a time over the past several years with outrage about this subject or that, but what this story really tells us above all else is that quoting specific statements out of context is always a terrible idea … and if you are desperate to do it, then you better make sure that what you are quoting is something that does not alter its original meaning.
This where Comedy Central completely screwed up this week, as what was probably a phoned-in “Colbert Report” promotional message by their social media team, without thinking of the implications of it, ended up causing #CancelColbert to become a movement all across the social-networking site.
Let’s start off here by explaining the origins of this incident. Colbert was doing one of his frequent sports-related segmentson his show Wednesday night, which included a jab at Washington football’s owner Daniel Snyder for starting a foundation for Native Americans … even though his team name is an offensive term that has been blasted by many both in and out of the tribal community. Colbert made a joke that he was going to be joining Snyder in creating a fake foundation for a character named Ching Chong Ding Dong, who he has played on the show on occasion, and has been blasted for by Asian equality groups.
Rather than explain the full context of the segment (which you can see below, the show’s official Twitter account (managed by Comedy Central) posted the following message:
“I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.”
You can dispute whether or not the original joke was offensive or not in the context of the full video (which was obviously satiric and meant to mock some of Snyder’s comments), but the question here is how much worse Comedy Central made the issue by separating it from the original joke, and angering those who have already found some of the Colbert character’s commentary to be distasteful.
After the #CancelColbert movement picked up steam, Stephen did address the issue himself from his own personal Twitter account:
“#CancelColbert – I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I’m @StephenAtHome“
What do you think about this latest round of controversy for Colbert, and do you think that any of the complaints or tweets are justified? Share below, and be sure to also click here if you want to get more updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Comedy Central