Vanderbilt Tampon Tantrum Takes Terrific Turn
Here Are More Harrowing Details About Nex Benedict
Idaho Tribune Announces Cash Reward for Evidence of 'Hate Crime' Against Basketball Team
Fascism Alert: Washington State to Offer Cash Reward for Reporting 'Hate Speech' and...
BREAKING: Democratic Mega Donor Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced for Crypto Crimes
Jewish Democrats Endorse Challengers to Squad Members
That's Gonna Leave a Mark: Riley Gaines SCHOOLS Scott Wiener After He Calls...
Politicizing the Baltimore Bridge Tragedy and Attacking Conservative Media is a New Low...
Missouri Attorney General Announces Suit Against Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation
The LEAST They Could Do: IL Parole Board Members Resign After Prisoner They...
Righteous Anger Boils Over as NYPD Union Tells City Council NOT to Attend...
Rob Reiner Says Taylor Swift Could Single-Handedly Save American Democracy
We Have So MANY Questions: Man Marries Conjoined Twin and Well, There is...
Timing of Biden-Harris Campaign's Attempted Slam on Trump is a SHAMELESS Fail
Paying Their Respects: NYT Announces Joe Lieberman's Passing With Hilarious Election Denia...

Egyptian prosecutors question comic Bassem Youssef over allegations of denigrating Islam

Bassem Youssef is a sharp-tongued Muslim Brotherhood critic who has been described as the “Jon Stewart” of Egypt. According to Movements.org, he got his start on YouTube then was subsequently picked up by a local television network:

Advertisement

A cardiologist-turned-international celebrity, Bassem Youssef began his meteoric rise to fame in 2011 with a series of YouTube videos shot with some friends in the laundry room of his apartment building. Youssef and his crew studied Stewart’s “The Daily Show” closely, trying to mimic its political punditry and apply it to Egypt’s chaotic political scene. It was a model that people around the Middle East gravitated towards, and the laundry-room videos quickly amassed millions of YouTube views. Youssef’s show was picked up by regional private TV network CBC, and two years after his first episode was posted online, it is now broadcast every Friday night to an estimated audience of 20-30 million viewers. Many of them can be found packed into outdoor seating at cafes around Egypt, sipping coffee and smoking a sheesha, paying up to 6 Pounds ($1) for the viewing pleasure.

According to Ahram Online, Youssef confirmed receiving an arrest warrant, mockingly tweeting that he will head to the prosecution office Sunday “unless they [prosecution] send me a police car today and save me transportation trouble.” Yesterday, Egypt’s prosecutor-general ordered the arrest of Youssef to investigate allegations that the comic had insulted President Mohamed Morsi and denigrated Islam, according to Ahram Online.

When Youseff turned himself in, he wore a giant hat:

Advertisement

Most Twitter reaction is in Arabic, which Twitchy unfortunately cannot read. English-language tweets, however, have been overwhelmingly supportive of Yousef:

https://twitter.com/AhmedKadry/status/318339510305959936

https://twitter.com/loletta3/status/318338489399791616

https://twitter.com/OmarJaber96/status/318333311959314432

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Twitchy Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement