Liberal comedian Jon Stewart said “tough shit” towards those who want less biased late night comedy in an interview with the New York Times this week.
Stewart, along with friends and co-performer Robert Smigel was asked, “For people who don’t share your politics and feel alienated by what they see in TV comedy — who wish we could go back to a more evenhanded era of Johnny Carson — do they have a point?”
“Here’s what I would say: Tough shit. Honestly,” he responded, “The idea that you’ve lost the pleasure of watching Carson? We all have lost that pleasure. I used to like watching Carson, too. But I think that’s a cop-out.”
He continued, “The people that say, ‘This culture isn’t for me,’ live in a nostalgic world. Those are the people that are the first to tell minorities, ‘Suck it up.’ Those are the first people to say to individuals that are being relentlessly either ostracized or legally threatened, ‘Oh, snowflake, watch yourself.’ But God forbid somebody doesn’t say ‘Merry Christmas.’ It’s the empty rhetoric of grievance, and I don’t feel bad in any way, whatsoever.” (RELATED: Jon Stewart Admits He ‘Could Have’ Done More About Louis CK)
The two were also asked about whether the internet is making more people seem offended. Stewart answered, “I don’t think they’re quicker to offense. I think it’s quicker that you know about it. The outrage has always been there–it just wasn’t on your feed.”