The rumors turned out to be true as “The Daily Show” correspondent Trevor Noah has been named as the show’s new host.
The South African comedian first made waves on the show when he appeared on a segment with Jon Stewart back in December 2014.
The segment was posted to YouTube as “Spot the Africa” and has since garnered more than 2 million hits.
With his promotion comes a lot of controversy. Since the announcement, Noah has been under fire from the Internet for some of his jokes he sent out in tweets. People have deemed them offensive, specifically against women and Jews.
Noah, as well as many people on the Internet, has defended the tweets and his career. Some believe his jokes are a dangerous way to proceed with “The Daily Show,” where many people get their news and form opinions.
Comedy Central has also stepped up to defend him in a statement saying, “Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.”
Comedian Patton Oswalt also defended Noah on Twitter, which was tweeted by Noah. “Welcome to comedy in 2015, @TrevorNoah!”
He has a persona like most comedians do, and it comes through on his social media accounts. Being host of “The Daily Show” is an act, so his humor may be different, but with his own flare. This is similar to how “The Colbert Report” used to operate, as well.
Many people also think that someone from South Africa should not be analyzing or reporting on politics in America. This argument does not seem to fit, as many people enjoy John Oliver on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” despite him being from England.
If anything, as some have mentioned, this does show the importance of vetting any particular person on social media before making such a major announcement. Cleaning up Noah’s Twitter account, which consists of more than 2 million followers, could have prevented much of the controversy that followed.
Despite all this, Noah is aware he has large shoes to fill. He also understands the troubles he faces as a comedian in today’s world, stating, “As a comedian, I’m forced to have a tough skin. Until people laugh, they are detractors. You walk into a new audience where nobody knows you, they go: ‘Make us laugh. Show us what you’re made of. Prove why we should be listening to you.’”
It is unknown when Noah will take over as host, but it seems it will be by the end of this year or early 2016.
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