Jon Stewart

[Witchie]

chonies, I think it was a mixture of both. If the joke/skit was racially insensitive, then Jon needed to be called on the mat for it. He's not above reproach. But Cenac seems to also have a lot emotional issues from his past (His father was murdered and his mother became abusive), and perhaps saw his relationship to Jon as more than it should have been for an employer/employee.

[kostgard]

I think Stewart tends to be a bit of a hero/father figure to a lot of the talent he brings in to the show. John Oliver certainly talks about him like he's a personal hero. And if you have that kind of emotional attachment, it would be hard to shake off an incident like that, even if you knew that person was mostly just in a pissy mood and apologized later. The spell has been broken.

I still don't believe that this is as big a deal as some on the media are making it out to be (as I said before, many comedians are not the happy fun people you think they are), but that hasn't stopped some rightwing sites from having a field day with this. I saw one blaring the headline "Jon Stewart is a violent sociopath and must be stopped!" That just made me laugh. Yelling at a subordinate at work makes you a jerk, not a sociopath. Also? Stop him from what? He's leaving his show in a couple weeks and hasn't announced any future plans. What are you stopping him from?

[chonies]

I agree, Witchie.

I read somewhere that Stewart and his wife bought a farm in New Jersey and are going to turn it into an animal sanctuary--I have the impression it's a farm animal sanctuary, but maybe Stewart, noted pit bull lover, will provide a home Ira Glass's acknowledged problem pit Piney, and then I will probably melt into a puddle of white liberal fangirl goo. And maybe I should get out more.

But anyway, yes. An animal sanctuary. Clearly, he needs to be stopped.

[carrier76]

The timing of this revelation is certainly interesting.

[smitten]

Jul 28, 2015 12:17:41 GMT -4 kostgard said:

I think Stewart tends to be a bit of a hero/father figure to a lot of the talent he brings in to the show. John Oliver certainly talks about him like he's a personal hero. And if you have that kind of emotional attachment, it would be hard to shake off an incident like that, even if you knew that person was mostly just in a pissy mood and apologized later. The spell has been broken.

I still don't believe that this is as big a deal as some on the media are making it out to be (as I said before, many comedians are not the happy fun people you think they are), but that hasn't stopped some rightwing sites from having a field day with this. I saw one blaring the headline "Jon Stewart is a violent sociopath and must be stopped!" That just made me laugh. Yelling at a subordinate at work makes you a jerk, not a sociopath. Also? Stop him from what? He's leaving his show in a couple weeks and hasn't announced any future plans. What are you stopping him from?

I totally agree. And I think your first paragraph shows the danger of putting ANYONE on a pedestal. Stewart is human, has bad days and apologizes for them. That's way more than a lot of bosses can say.

He's not a robot, and treating him like some all-knowing, reverent figure who should know what everyone else is thinking in order to be sensitive to it before he says a word is too much pressure to be put on anyone, left or right, politician or comedian.

My overall reaction to this is "meh" along with, yeah why is this coming out now?

[Deleted]

I am really looking forward to his last week -- I think he is going to bring it. He already eviscerated Fox News last night. I myself am hoping for a return of the Go Eff Yourself Choir.

[greekone]

Jul 28, 2015 12:17:41 GMT -4 kostgard said:

I think Stewart tends to be a bit of a hero/father figure to a lot of the talent he brings in to the show. John Oliver certainly talks about him like he's a personal hero. And if you have that kind of emotional attachment, it would be hard to shake off an incident like that, even if you knew that person was mostly just in a pissy mood and apologized later. The spell has been broken.

I agree. He is also that way with some guests. When Malala was on his show and she said something so profound, Jon Stewart asked her if her dad would allow him to adopt her. It was a very sweet moment. He seemed so protective of her.

[Spinderella]

I'm really hoping his farewell to Fox News will be along the same line as Colbert's "Fuck that Noise" for The O'Reilly Factor.

I'm just sad we don't have more (we just need more and more) shows exposing the shows for the frauds that they are. But then again, there aren't really that many people that actually watch Fox News. Just my stupid in-laws and really senile people.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

There are plenty of people watching Fox News. It's been the #1 cable news network in ratings for the last 13 years.

While it's incredibly sad that Stewart won't be around anymore, I feel like he's taught us a thing or two about watching the news with a critical eye, and that's something I won't forget.

[kostgard]

Yes - what Jon did best was skewer the media. I hope the Daily Show continues to do that without him because no one else is really doing it. John Oliver covers topics that fly under the radar of the mainstream media. Larry Wilmore does it a little, but he is largely focused on race and other social issues. If the stuff he's been doing to promote the show is any indication, Colbert will continue to be political, but his focus will not be on skewering the lies perpetuated by Fox News. It will be really sad if we lose that, so I hope Trevor Noah continues that legacy (I know he'll probably want to focus on race somewhat for obvious reasons, but...Larry Wilmore is doing a beautiful job covering that. I hope Trevor focuses mainly on the media).