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Samantha Bee Called Young Man a Nazi. Then Apologized. Kinda.
Samantha Bee is not funny. She hosts a TBS show named “Full Frontal,” which mimics the hard-left fake-news template of “The Daily Show.” The latter show still exists, hosted by the not-funny Trevor Noah, while the not-funny Seth Meyers and the once-funny Stephen Colbert mine the same depleted vein on their own late-night talk shows.
All of these programs are intended as Comedy, but are better described as Urban Liberals Yelling At Americans Who Disagree With Them. Here’s how the formula works:
- Play an out-of-context clip of a Republican.
- Show the host staring into the camera, crinkling his/her nose, opening his/her eyes wide, or tapping his/her pencil.
- Peals of digitally enhanced laughter from the live audience, as home viewers check Netflix.
You don’t tune into “Full Frontal” for jokes or satire, but common snark and mockery of The Other. It’s Orwell’s Two Minutes Hate with a laugh track. On Wednesday night, Ms. Bee cast CPAC as Emmanuel Goldstein, cleverly labeling attendees fascists. In a segment focusing on the gathering, Bee said, “This year, the bow ties were gone, replaced by Nazi hair, Nazi hair, Nazi hair.” As she said this, several attendees were shown, including 20-year-old student Kyle Coddington.
#LOL #NaziHair
However, Coddington’s sister jumped on Twitter Thursday morning with the backstory:
When @iamsambee makes fun of your brother for having “Nazi hair.” He actually has stage 4 brain cancer, but whatever floats your boat. pic.twitter.com/ULJC8nA3IX
— Megan Coddington (@meg_kelly16) March 9, 2017
After the above tweet received much attention, “Full Frontal” staff apologized.
@meg_kelly16 We deeply apologize for offending you and @_that_kyle. We only learned of his condition today & have removed him from the piece
— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) March 9, 2017
In addition, the show donated $1,000 to Coddington’s GoFundMe page, which notes he’s fighting stage 4 glioblastoma.
We rarely see apologies offered between partisans of the left and right, even of the weaselly “we’re sorry you were offended” variety. That, combined with the generous donation, deserves credit. But several right-leaning partisans tossed the olive branch in a wood chipper.
Sure, she apologized to the cancer victim, but what about the others? Will she stop calling everyone to the right of Hillary Clinton a Nazi? How about her nightly deceptive video edits ridiculing figures public and private?
Granted, it’s up to Mr. Coddington alone whether to accept Bee’s apology and forgive her ugly behavior. I turn to you, Ricochetti: Should he?
Published in General
It turns out that she’s only going to apologize to that guy she called a Nazi. Because her name-calling was outed on her.
So Ms. Bee can jam it.
Never heard of her.
If I were Kyle Coddington I would wait until someone asked me to comment, at which time I would reply, ” Who is Samantha Bee?”
If pressed further (accompanied by a show of sputtering disbelief that there could be anyone—anyone!—who does not know who Samantha Bee is) I would say, “Unforgiving vindictiveness is an attitude of the left and should remain confined to that venue. If Miss Bee slandered me on her show, realized her mistake, apologized, and donated to my GoFundMe site then I forgive her, thank her for the donation, and regard the incident (at least my part of it) as closed. Have a nice day.”
Gavin McInnes does a good job here discussing how unfunny the Daily Show and its clones are.
Attitude is not wit.
I wish the kid well.
For liberal snark/comedy ‘Nazi’ is merely the punch line for any set up joke concerning the Right/conservative/Trump supporter/Christian/School Choice Advocate/Right to Lifer/Gun Owner/First Amendment backer and fill in the blank your choice here __________.
Doesn’t this sort of prove Gavin McInnes’s point in the above video?
They got nothing so they just go for ‘more cowbell’?
She proffered a lukewarm apology in which she failed to acknowledge any personal responsibility, then threw a little money at the young man. Now I expect that, her conscience salved, she will carry on as she always has. What else does she know?
The above is representative of her “comedy.”
In other words, you haven’t missed anything.
Here’s how the formula works:
First off, 1,000 isn’t generous considering the money behind the giver. It is sort of like you, Jon, giving the kid a 20 ( which would be kind and sweet).
Secondly, Samantha Beeatch is a third rate intellect with second rate talent pitching the same tired garbage. I will find her in the zombie apocalypse when my food stores run low. Perhaps only with Tabasco will she have good taste.
You should trademark this, the same goes for the entire lot of them.
On the one hand, the apology is insincere. A $30k donation might have sent a message, and deleting the segment entirely might have sent a message.
But only (I mean, an apology is only necessary) because the brain cancer is a reminder that this is a human being. Obviously they had no way of knowing he had cancer, and they should not be held accountable for that. But they are calling people names and mocking them because they disagree about politics. They won’t learn any lesson about that.
This kid should think nothing of it either way. I imagine he has more important things on his mind.
You’re lucky.
$1000? Big whoop. The show staff probably spends more than that at Starbucks in a week. I’m sure they’re proud of themselves though.
Glenn Beck had her on his show. They got along great, and it was fascinating radio.
Vile, odious woman.
$1,000 is nothing. This Sam Bee person should donate from her personal income – sacrificially. At that point, I might be impressed that she’s sorry. Until then, I’ll only believe she’s sorry she’s under fire.
Two thoughts:
I find that being offended is ridiculous unless you are offended for all. Either it was a bad joke that should be taken as such, or it was offensive to ridicule any person for their preferred/needed hair style.
Of course, the idea that the show could take the image of these people and use it for profit without permission is also just wrong in my book. Being in public doesn’t mean you should be on TV at the whim of others. Especially in a case like this with specific references to individuals.
I think the young man in question answers your concerns well enough:
Kyle Coddington said “I want to make it clear that half-apologizing for offending someone is not apologizing for making baseless accusations against people because of the way they look. This kind of behavior should be rejected by both sides of the aisle.”
To make it more interesting, Kyle is a registered Democrat and did not vote for Trump.
1 All future references to her should include the phrase “Bee, who accused a brain-cancer patient a Nazi because she misinterpreted his haircut”
2 There should be no future references to her
Perfect
Sorry, she will be safe in the zombie apocalypse–she doesn’t even have the scent of brains.
Who is Glenn Beck?
Someone should ask Samantha if having brain cancer absolves one of being accused of being a Nazi. I am sure the basis of her accusation went beyond the hair cuts, in her demented mind. Her tweet is only apologizing for making fun of his haircut. I don’t think she should get much credit for this.
The idea is to be edgy. The sweet spot where politics and humor overlap and has broad appeal, is tiny.
Humor is difficult and requires a sharp intellect. Many comedians made fun of their own lives and families, and it is successful because we experience the same things; we can relate in a self-deprecating way. There seems to be an idea that everyone is fair game in the internet age. A model thinks it is funny to post a body shaming photo of a 70 year old woman at the gym.
We are living during times of the politicization of everything, and it is killing not just humor, but every entertainment. Sports viewers regularly have to put up with leftist snark when they just want to watch a good game.
I recently read a joke that Milton Berle told. It goes something like this. When Jim Bacus was dying, Berle went to visit him in the hospital, and told him jokes for a couple of hours to cheer him up. Before Milton left, he told Jim, “I hope you get better soon” and Bacus replied “I hope you do too.”
I think he has other things to worry about.
That whole “GOP is evil” comedy ship is soooooo Bush-era.
Never heard of her. I have hearts of Steven Colbert, though.
Being a public leftwinger is punishment enough, I would think.