Following Norm Macdonald’s death Tuesday, we looked back to when “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” canceled the superstar’s appearance over his #MeToo comments and more.
The legendary comedian defended comedians Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr during a 2018 interview with the Hollywood Reporter and said he felt for them amid a backlash against the stars, the outlet reported at the time. (RELATED: Roseanne Barr ‘Disgusted’ By Stars Throwing Support To James Gunn After ‘Blacklisting’ Her)
“Out of sensitivity to our audience and in light of Norm Macdonald’s comments in the press today, ‘The Tonight Show’ has decided to cancel his appearance on Tuesday’s telecast,” a ‘Tonight Show’ spokesperson shared in a statement at the time, despite the comedian’s apology later in the day. (RELATED: Sarah Silverman Says She Sometimes Wanted To See Louis C.K. Masturbate After He Asked)
“He was the gold standard, and he will continue to be the gold standard”
“One of the greatest comedians ever.”
“The comedy world is poorer for it today.”
Comedians and friends pay tribute to Norm Macdonald. https://t.co/ER96M1vRag
— NPR (@NPR) September 15, 2021
During the interview, Macdonald said he was “happy the #MeToo movement” had “slowed down a little bit.” And later said, “it used to be, ‘One hundred women can’t be lying.’ And then it became, ‘One woman can’t lie.’ And that became, ‘I believe all women.’ And then you’re like, ‘What?’ Like, that Chris Hardwick guy I really thought got the blunt end of the stick there.”
The TV host, Hardwick, was accused of abuse by an ex-girlfriend and he was taken off the air. Following an investigation by AMC, he was reinstated.
“Roseanne was so broken up [after her show’s reboot was canceled] that I got Louis to call her, even though Roseanne was very hard on Louis [C.K.] before that,” Macdonald explained. “But she was just so broken and just crying constantly. There are very few people that have gone through what they have, losing everything in a day. Of course, people will go, ‘What about the victims?’ But you know what? The victims didn’t have to go through that.”
Norm later issued an apology on Twitter and said he would “never defend” their actions.
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
Barr was fired by ABC from her popular rebooted sitcom “Roseanne” after she tweeted something racially insensitive about former President Barack Obama’s former aide Valerie Jarrett. She apologized numerous times for the comment about Jarrett.
C.K. previously admitted a variety of sexual misconduct claims against him were true during the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017.