Petition Wants Comedy Central To Disassociate Itself With Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart has been a Comedy Central icon for years. However, recent revelations that he allegedly mistreated an African American writer have threatened to diminish his reputation. E! Online discusses the situation.
“Cenac said that in 2011, when he was the sole black writer on the series, he was bothered by Stewart’s on-air impression of then presidential candidate and Republican leader Herman Cain, who is also black.”
The article goes on to note that Stewart allegedly told Wyatt Cenac to “f–k off” and that he is through with him. Stewart’s alleged behind-the-scenes attitude is quite different from the one he displays in front of the camera when chiding other people for their alleged racism.
Some people have recognized what they consider hypocrisy and have taken to Change.org in order to create a petition. The mission statement is pretty harsh.
“We demand Comedy Central severe [sic] all ties with Jon Stewart by not inviting him back on the network or airing re-runs after he leaves The Daily Show. He is a pure racist, which is indicated by his treatment of Wyatt Cenac, a former African-American writer for the show.”
The rest of the statement gets rather personal and accuses Stewart of not being proud of his Jewish heritage since he doesn’t use his real last name, Leibowitz. Some of the people signing the petition are really angry.
“As a Jew, I find Jon Lebowitz to be the most offensive person on television. He changed his name so it wouldn’t sound so Jewish. He then talks about how racist people are, but engages in racism himself. I will boycott all advertisers of Comedy Central,” writes Erica Seinfelt of Miami, FL.
“Jon has the guts to talk about ‘white privilege’ and then, well, you know…” writes Aaron Lopez of Chicago, IL.
There are plenty of people on Twitter who are angry with Jon Stewart.
Some people have taken to the comments section under various articles in order to defend Jon Stewart, especially on Mediate.
“A conversation was recounted. I didn’t see any accusation of racism one way or the other. What I got out of it was that Stewart’s pride was injured and lost his temper,” wrote commenter Icowrich.
“This is just a non-issue, one where Cenac lacked perspective and over reacted,” wrote Mind Riot.
Jon Stewart has yet to comment on the specific petition, but many are saying that he actually suggested that Cenac become his replacement on the show. What do you think about the Jon Stewart controversy? Let us know in the comments section.
[Photo by Stephen Lovekin / Stringer for Getty Images]
