I don’t think Hasan Minhaj should necessarily be canceled or eliminated from consideration over the exaggerated controversy, and I do happen to think he’s very smart and would offer some interesting political insights. Problem is, I don’t find him funny at all. Can’t think of a single thing he’s ever said or done that made me laugh. Even Bill Maher, who has a much more serious show than TDS, manages to make it funny in spots.
I agree completely.
If you can get past her shouting and dropping bleeped F-bombs every other word, I actually think she had a few clever jokes last night, but her delivery is so loud and confrontational (jokingly of course) that it’s exhausting and it just doesn’t fit the news desk format.
She’s only got a few mins to make a comedy segment about it and there are indeed legit questions about whether it amounts to plagiarism.
Yes, there is a counter-argument, as you’ve just illustrated with the learning process for humans where we don’t get permission or pay a royalty for everything that influences our creative designs or expressions. Ultimately, whether it’s different when a machine does it is a matter for the courts to decide.
At the very least, we’ve seen many instances of where NIL has been used without permission by AI tools and I assume there will be limitations imposed or royalties owed in those scenarios. So, does Sarah’s book constitute “name, image, and likeness” particularly considering the autobiographical content?
Not sure, but I don’t think her portrayal of the issue demonstrated ignorance. It just showed her point of view given that she’s involved in one of these lawsuits.
Anyone that has an opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is going to get accused of supporting inhumane actions by the other side, yet how exactly do we expect a Jew like Sarah Silverman to feel about this?
I’m not Jewish myself, but I know many people who are, and they often feel very much like foreigners in whatever country they are part of because they are an ethnic and religious minority that is often subjected to antisemitism or even violence and, at best, just made to feel like outcasts because they aren’t part of the majority Christian traditions. That’s not only true here in the US but in Europe as well. So, they naturally feel a sense of solidarity with Jews who fled oppression to establish the state of Israel, especially when those people have been victimized by a horrific terrorist attack. That’s all this is.
We should be able to relate when you consider the blood lust that most Americans had after 911. 1 million Iraqis were killed in a war based on false pretenses that was only possible because of the sense of revenge that many Americans felt toward Muslim Arabs in general. Should everyone that expressed support for the Iraq war, then or now, be cancelled?
I’m not saying that makes it all OK. I’m just saying it’s human nature.
I’m sure that same dynamic exists for Muslim Arabs in many places and they therefore feel that same sense of solidarity with the Palestinians. So, I’m not gonna get all bent out of shape if one of them basically whitewashes the Oct 7th terrorist attack to focus instead on the ongoing blockade or siege of Gaza and civilian deaths from the counter-offensive. Of course they feel emotional about those things. Prioritizing those feelings over any guilt or grief about Oct 7th doesn’t make them evil either.
Point being, we’re all just viewing this from the perspective of those that we can most closely relate to and if the only people that can host TDS are those who either offer a perfectly nuanced statement opposition to all forms of violence or just keep their mouths shut, the show will suck because comedians that play it safe don’t get laughs, nor do they tend to make very compelling or influential points.
Great find and thanks for sharing. I still tend to prefer him as a correspondent over host as I think his offbeat humor is better suited for that role. But he’s definitely a talented guy with very interesting insights on how to make political humor work. Great interview.
I will certainly miss him on TDS and will be interested to see what he does next.
I haven’t watched his self-defense/apology video yet so I’ll have to check it out. But I never wanted him in the first place. He’s smart, but not all that funny.
And I’m not sure he would have been the right host to revive the ratings either. Bits need to be a tad silly and outrageous in order to grab attention or go viral. I think ALL of the current correspondents are better at that than Hasan.
I’ve enjoyed some of her jokes more than I expected, but I don’t like her screaming, profane delivery at all. It’s fine for standup, but it just doesn’t fit a news parody show. It’s exhausting and I can only take it in very small doses.