Comedian Norm Macdonald never went away, but he’s making a comeback of sorts with a new Netflix talk show, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show,” on which he says he wouldn’t be dipping into political punditry.
That doesn’t mean that political punditry didn’t track him down, and as Twitchy reported, Macdonald’s appearance on “The Tonight Show” was pulled at the last minute due to some remarks Macdonald made about the #MeToo movement that reportedly had senior producers on “The Tonight Show” crying.
Of course, it couldn’t have helped matters that, while not defending their actions, Macdonald called Roseanne Barr and Louis C.K. “very good friends.”
Roseanne and Louis have both been very good friends of mine for many years. They both made terrible mistakes and I would never defend their actions. If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day, I am deeply sorry.
— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) September 11, 2018
Maybe it’s just us, but that sounds like a sincere apology, but we’ll guarantee it’s not enough to let Macdonald off the hook. Remember the backlash actress Rose McGowan got when she asked followers to “be gentle” when it was her friend Asia Argento on the wrong side of a #MeToo accusation?
Writer Kat Rosenfield posted a great thread on the whole Norm Macdonald kerfuffle, accusing critics of stripping all context from Macdonald’s remarks in order to be as offended as possible.
Hoo boy this Norm Macdonald thing is a fabulous example of the idioticization of contemporary discourse, where the object of the game is to find the most offensive possible interpretation of one ambiguous fragment of someone's speech and then scream about it all day
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) September 12, 2018
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Yes, "These people suffered uniquely life-altering consequences for their bad actions and I thought they should talk to each other" is a somewhat complicated idea but it is clearly not a defense of the bad actions themselves
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) September 12, 2018
"This bad act was out of character and I don't know why she did it" is also a somewhat complicated idea. Still not a defense of the bad act!
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) September 12, 2018
I've seen so many writers — people I *know* are capable of being nuanced & critical — dropping the most ludicrous scorching hot takes of Macdonald's comments like they have forgotten the concept of requiring several sentences to express a complete/complex thought
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) September 12, 2018
Grasping for the outrageous interpretation of what someone said (while belligerently refusing to ask what they *meant*) is so damn shallow and facile, and it's quickly becoming the default mode of conversation, and yes it gets clicks but it is making us all so much stupider
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) September 12, 2018
She’s right, and social media doesn’t help: we’ve seen lots of scorching hot takes by people who clearly never clicked through to the article that supposedly has them outraged.
Well said.
— red-pilled lib (@dogma_vat) September 12, 2018
Outrage culture.
Boycott everything.
Silence.— Earl (@fox_earlj) September 12, 2018
This is why it's better never to say anything about anything. https://t.co/ew8GCvpv66
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) September 12, 2018
Yep, it's like a new subculture that exists on both sides that says, "I disagree with that person, let's get them fired!!" It's ridiculous.
— Chris Estep (@Estep) September 12, 2018
I believe it’s called “cancelling” them, Chris. That’s the lingo.
— allgoldeverything (@J264B) September 12, 2018
Truly. Who does @normmacdonald think he is. You can’t just say something measured and reasonable in this environment. He’s just as bad as Harvey amiright? I say throw that baby out with the bath water!
— metroh8tr (@dcmetroh8tr) September 12, 2018
It’s because these people just need something to complain about all day long every day so why not leverage this?
— Bill Greer (@bgreer365) September 12, 2018
Brilliantly written and absolutely nailed on. I assume a lot just read a terrible headline (as is usually the case) and made their mind up.
I think it's to be admired Norm showed compassion for two old friends, when it's much safer to discard them in the press.— David Wyatt (@SisBoomBa) September 12, 2018
Norm MacDonald did nothing wrong. I don't agree with everything he said, but I agree with a lot of it. Whether you agree with some, all, or none, the fact that senior producers of a tv show are crying about an interview w/ a comedian represents an unacceptable degree of fragility https://t.co/da0zzt3tue
— Sandwiches 4 All (@TheSandwichBear) September 12, 2018
New bumper sticker: "If you're not outraged, you might be happy."
— Abe Whipple (@abe_whipple) September 12, 2018
That is a huge and way-too-overlooked point among those trying to figure out the Trump phenomenon. And I don't pretend to know your politics. Outrage has been weaponized *at all levels*.
— mike harlandale (@manicmundane) September 12, 2018
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) September 12, 2018
Oh man, has New York Times columnist Bari Weiss been on the receiving end of exactly what Rosenfield describes. That’s what you get for ruining a perfectly good liberal safe space like the New York Times opinion page.
Thoughtful thread, therefore twitter will reject it like an invading bacteria https://t.co/C2Cz9v5INZ
— Thomas Kaempfen (@ThomasKaempfen) September 12, 2018
Related:
'SUCH CRAP!' Wait, THIS is why Jimmy Fallon disinvited Norm Macdonald from the Tonight Show? https://t.co/Oc4IdrdWgS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 12, 2018
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