"Oh no, you just did this and you didn’t think about it. It was just the voice that came into your head. And so it bugged me.... I've got to be honest, and I just spoke from my place... I wasn’t here when it all happened. I was in a hotel. And I cringed a little bit. It bothered me.... [Stewart] got incredibly defensive. I remember he was like, What are you trying to say? There’s a tone in your voice. I was like, 'There’s no tone. It bothered me. It sounded like Kingfish.'"That is, Kingfish, the old Amos 'n' Andy character.
According to Cenac, Stewart "got upset... stood up and he was just like, 'Fuck off. I’m done with you.' And he just started screaming that to me. And he screamed it a few times. 'Fuck off! I’m done with you.' And he stormed out. And I didn’t know if I had been fired." Cenac went outside and "I was shaking, and I just sat there by myself on the bleachers and fucking cried. And it’s a sad thing. That’s how I feel. That’s how I feel in this job. I feel alone."
ADDED: I hadn't finished listening to the podcast when I wrote this post, but now I have. It's important to recognize that Wyatt Cenac came across over the course of an hour-plus interview as a very unhappy man. When he was a kid, his father was murdered. He is estranged from his mother, who, based on his description, seems mentally ill. He avoids any contact with her and feels that she's been like a "stalker" in his life. Marc Maron told him that he has "a chip on your shoulder."
The material about Jon Stewart must be understood in this context. Look at what Cenac said in the interview. It does not reveal how Cenac expressed himself, other than that he used the "Kingfish" comparison. We can gather that Cenac perseverated on the subject and felt that, as the only black person on the writing staff, he had to represent black people and not let them down. That is, he seemed powered by righteous energy, and it sounds as though, after he was listened to, he just kept going, insisting that a bit they wanted to do should be dropped.
How long did that go on? Stewart did listen and was respectful up to a point, a point at which he snapped. I wish I could see a full transcript. I suspect, based on listening to over an hour of a very revealing interview, that Cenac tried everyone's patience, had some heavy psychological issues, and that he had to be squelched as they worked on the material for their daily show. I think they did have some empathy for Cenac and they respected his voice. That comes across in even in Cenac's subjective version of the story. But they could not give him the power to veto sketches and to drag down all the energy as they faced a deadline.
Here's the segment that Cenac wanted to stop them from airing. In it, you hear the original mocking of Cain, Fox News's use of it to portray Stewart as racist (and Fox News said "Amos and Andy" before Cenac arrived at his opinion), and Stewart's response, which was a whole big jumble of old clips of him doing various voices (including Jewish, Italian, Mexican, German, Donald Trump, and gay):
ALSO: Based on the interview, it's hard to believe that Cenac has a career in comedy. He wasn't funny and didn't try to be funny. Recently, I listened to the Marc Maron's interview with Robin Williams, which was recorded less than 4 months before Williams killed himself. Williams was far more upbeat than Cenac and made many funny observations. I don't remember Cenac saying anything even faintly amusing.
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What's funny is how popular "Amos 'n' Andy" was with black listeners in the 30s, per Henry Louis Gates. They thought it was their show.
But Cain doesn't sound like the Kingfish at all. Geez I love his voice. He doesn't say a whole lot, but he's fun to listen to just for that voice and good nature.
Jon just has no clue.
Stewart's always got an excuse ("I'm just a comedian") so I don't have a lot of respect for him. I'm sure he didn't do it intentionally but that's not what defines racism Jon. Even for non Republicans.
White liberals are allowed to abuse and intimidate black people. Because they care so much.
Heh - check your privilege at the door, Mr. Stewart:)
The only thing about this story that surprises me is that The Daily Show had a black writer.
Tony Powell, the angry black on Imus, does black voices for being-angry bits.
Neither he nor Amos and Andy were ever amusing, but so little was back then.
Bob and Ray sometimes were good, especially their late stuff.
What an idiot.
It's only racist if you're a Republican.
1) Stewart is not used to anyone challenging his rectitude...he sees it as his job to do that to everyone else.
2) The writer needs to toughen up, and not wilt when attacked. If he was going to be fired, he had already done the damage and should have told Stewart that he should fuck off.
I tried to find the Stewart-imitates-Cain segment ... I think this is it (FF to :47 if it doesn't already start there).
Goodness, but he's defensive with Chris Wallace as well. In fact, so defensive, I thought he was about to make a joke ... which certainly lends credence to his former employee's take on the incident.
https://youtu.be/hAoxOmCVN_8?t=47s
For a white guy, I thought it was a pretty good imitation of Herman Cain.
If you're a white, liberal Jewish guy in the entertainment business it's just so wrong for you to do Cain as Kingfish.
One does Cain as Rochester.
Minor insult compared to his show's years of selective editing of news and Stewart's stupid mugging to cam.
My black nursemaid loved "Amos 'n Andy" on the radio. That was in the 40s.
I loved Tim Moore as George "Kingfish" Stevens. I thought he was a funnier conniver than either Sgt. Bilko or Ralph Kramden.
Its a shame that PC had denied generations of blacks the joy of seeing one of their own.
the one black writer on "The Daily Show"
Was Stewart clown-nose-on or clown-nose-off? Everyone he knows thought the bit was funny.
Jon Stewart doesn't like uppity help.
Was Stewart insensitive or was the writer too sensitive? It is extremely difficult to apportion guilt when both parties are liberal. Perhaps if Stewart or the writer was gay, it would be easier to find out who had the moral high ground.
Charlie Rose and Gayle King will be doubled over in laughter on CBS This Morning over this story, because it's Jon Stewart, you know.
Imitating the Kingfish as a voice for Herman Cain is like:
Imitating the Kingfish for Barack Obama;
Imitating Jackie Mason for Jerry Seinfeld;
Imitating Barry Fitzgerald for James Cagney.
Tell me again why it's okay for Jon Stewart to use the Kingfish's voice.
Ha Ha. Please, please keep eating your own.
My first instinct was that Progs don't like it much when their own ox is being gored, and my second, related, instinct was that a lefty like Stewart can't get over the notion that he has power and others speak truth to him.
But at the end of the article I read "... it places people of color in a bind where they have to 'represent' ", which is explained:
"Something like this, I represent my community, I represent my people, and I try to represent them the best that I can. I gotta be honest if something seems questionable, because if not, then I don’t want to be in a position where I am being untrue not just to myself but to my culture ... You represent something bigger than yourself whether you want to or not."
I would have thought that we were wa-a-ay beyond that but apparently not. It wouldn't occur to me to assume that the Black scientist I worked with a few years back felt it necessary to represent his culture -- how many people in any culture have the intelligence, intellectual curiosity, and drive to achieve a Ph.D. in a very challenging scientific discipline (biophysics, if I remember correctly)? Why would such a person even feel the need represent a whole culture when hardly anyone in that culture is like him? That's a heavy burden for a Black person to carry, and IMHO no one should have to carry it.
Just before you reach racial transcendence, or before your brains fall out, there's a little racist wall in the back of your mind, forgotten, overgrown with sentiment, that needs to come down.
Sounds just the way I'd imagine Stewart would sound when defensive. Butt hurt.
Of course Stewart is a racist. This surprises you?
ddh: "Tell me again why it's okay for Jon Stewart to use the Kingfish's voice"
Fen's Law.
Again and again and again....
Johns white privilege got the better of him. He jaunt cant help doingthe black caricature voice,
That segment of the interview with Wyatt Cenac about Jon Stewart is worth a listen. There was a lot more to it than the excerpts. Until now, I hadn't realized just how vehement lefties react to the slightest suggestion they may have been racially insensitive (perhaps it's just Stewart but methinks it's more universal).
Wyatt said Stewart was always challenged by his writers -- that was part of the deal -- but never had Stewart just exploded on a writer, like he did when Wyatt told him the Cain imitation had made him uncomfortable and suggested that Stewart just let the issue die on the vine (Stewart insisted on a rebuttal segment after Fox News's Amos & Andy remarks). Apparently the argument grew so loud and heated, the dogs on the set were shaking.
Cenac also pointed out to him that if Stewart were to get overly-defensive about the racist claims, it would just lend them more credence. That certainly seemed true in Stewart's interview with Fox's Chris Wallace. Shakespeare's line, "the lady dost protest too much, methinks," continues to live on.
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_622_-_wyatt_cenac (FF to approx 1:15:12, where Cenac explains his departure from the show and his argument w/Stewart that lead up to it).
All lefties' mamas dipped them in the River Styx at birth, coating them with racial purity so thick they forget about those two heels that didn't get wet. So when even the faintest charge of racism comes their way ... look out. It is a barb that touches the vulnerable heel and threatens their very self-image.
Very, very scary for them and anyone who gets in their way.
Now that there's a real case of white privilege. The implicit How Dare You, Who Do You Think You Are! just pleads begs implores to be expressed.
I guess the kid actually believed them when he was told to challenge the talent. You can only go so far lad, only so far before they're "done with you."
I wonder who he writes for now? Could be a career ender speaking back to the overseer.
If liberals decide a black man is an Uncle Tom, then he is fair game for ridicule and abuse. The things Cornel West has said about "Uncle Toms" will curl your hair.
Blogger Mark Caplan said...If liberals decide a black man is an Uncle Tom, then he is fair game for ridicule and abuse. The things Cornel West has said about "Uncle Toms" will curl your hair.
I always wonder when I hear that insult if the person ever read the book. (I already know the answer is almost certainly no.) Uncle Tom, the character in the book, is unwaveringly true to his principles from beginning to end. At the end he is whipped to death for disobeying his master because his master demanded he do something he considered immoral. That's Uncle Tom.
According to wikipedia Cenac's last appearance was end of 2012. This all went down in June 2011. What kind of slow-motion firing is that? This story has issues.
"He wasn't funny and didn't try to be funny."
Years ago, back when I listened to Fresh Air, I heard an interview of Larry David on Fresh Air. I only had a vague idea of who he was, and I remember wondering why they were interviewing the dullest and most humorless person I had ever heard.
Regarding Cenac's unfunnyness (is that a word?), that's because he's not a comedian he is a comedy writer. It is strangely common for comedy writers to a humorless bunch. Crafting jokes is actually a formulaic process, especially for entertainment programs like the Daily Show and the Tonight Show. And at least according to they guy who taught my Comedy Writing class, the scripting meetings for those shows can be the most chilling and depressing places imaginable.
Sorry if that spoils the magic.
"Cenac is characteristically thoughtful about how racial dynamics manifest themselves in creative spaces like The Daily Show, and how it places people of color in a bind where they have to "represent":"
That's a quote from the article to which you linked. You had vastly different opinions. I like seeing both.
Wow, your lack of compassion is appalling, Ann.
#blackcomedywritersmatter
I always wonder when I hear that insult if the person ever read the book.
The Left specializes in inaccurate language. Al they think of when they use the term is "house nigger", meaning of course one who betrays other slaves to the master for personal gain.
White liberals can't be racists. Everyone knows that. OTHER people are the racists.
Also, telling someone to "fuck off" is definitely rape-y.
Wyatt Cenac was a performer on the show as well as being a writer. He was ok as a performer, not outstanding. Comedians are not generally "on" all the time and have been commonly described as being drab or morose. One can't judge a comedian by his off-stage persona. Many of the beloved comedians of tv's early days-Gleason, Berle, Ceasar, Red Buttons, etc., were tyrannical egomaniacs who treated all around them like shit.
But is it as "rape-y) as a lightbulb joke Meade?
How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at the Althouse home?
Two. Meade to change the bulb, and Anne to pay for the house and replacement bulb.
Waka waka waka.
"According to wikipedia Cenac's last appearance was end of 2012. This all went down in June 2011. What kind of slow-motion firing is that? This story has issues."
Not if you listen to the interview. Cenac remained as a performer, there to do sketches that had a part for him. But he left the writing team. He talks a lot about how bad that felt.
Regarding Cenac's unfunnyness (is that a word?), that's because he's not a comedian he is a comedy writer. It is strangely common for comedy writers to [be] a humorless bunch
Yeah, two different crafts. I'm a decent songwriter but not a great singer. Completely different skills.
The context Althouse added is interesting but Stewart is also a smug prick, so we have that going for us. Which is nice.
@Althouse, it is not becoming for a professor at a far-left leaning university to come to the aid of a wealthy white man by concocting a personal attack on a black man.
Stewart's defense of his use of a stereotypical "black" voice is that he's used stereotypical voices against other ethnic groups in the past. Hey, fair enough, but does the Professor find his use at all...ugly? I mean, quite apart from the idea that anyone not on the Left could use the same defense (which of course they could not), isn't this special pleading a pretty glaring reminder that people who find "dog-whistle" racism in the smallest utterance by anyone not on the Left don't have any compunction about using explicitly racist tropes (ideas, mannerisms, etc) themselves.
Shorter Hoodlum: Do you have a problem with Stewart's comic usage of a stereotypical black voice to mock a black man, Professor? If the answer is no is it because of the context of the usage, and if so is that really because you've already given Stewart a pass (as a non-racist)? And (lastly) if that's the case does it mean that the real question isn't "is this thing person XYZ is doing racist" but instead "have I already judged person XYZ to be racists or non-racist" such that the particular activity almost doesn't matter?
Thanks!
I can believe that a guy whose father was murdered and whose mother is mentally disturbed has some issues, especially with authority figures. But it is inappropriate to address such anger and resentment towards a beloved figure like Jon Stewart. The proper venue to vent such grievances is at the police officer during a traffic stop.
Ta-Nahesi Coats seemed like a pretty angry, cynical guy to me, but I read that it was racist to point that out (it plays into the traditional dismissal of black voices as angry w/o substance, plays on a stereotype of the violent black man, etc) so that's not something that can be brought up when evaluating his work.
#racsimgonnagetyoutoo
"According to Cenac, Stewart "got upset... stood up and he was just like, 'Fuck off. I’m done with you.' And he just started screaming that to me. And he screamed it a few times. 'Fuck off! I’m done with you.' And he stormed out."
Wherein Jon Stewart learns that it sucks to be accused of racism, yet remains oblivious to his own habit of accusing pretty much every conservative of racism.
I feel raped having been baited into watching this Stewart clip. But in all of this did I miss the part where he plays the actual recorded segment all this revolves around?
Tim Maguire, I agree with your comment about Uncle Tom. In the book, he is a Christ-like figure (he even is a lay preacher) who becomes the target of an evil man, much as Billy Budd became a target of John Claggart. Uncle Tom dreamed of winning his freedom, but he died to buy time for other slaves to escape.
Jonny boy Stewart, like most progressives, really doesn't like it when someone does to him what he and his progressive buddies do to other people all day every day. And this guy didn't even do that to him. He just said he didn't like Stewart mocking a black man with a voice reminiscent, to him, of Kingfish's voice. Amos & Andy being a popular example of entertainment racism these days. He didn't accuse Jonny boy of being a closet racist.
Jonny boy got all huffy too when Chris Wallace mentioned Amos & Andy to him during an interview several years ago. In Jonny boy's mind, he is pure on racial matters, because he hates and race-baits the real (in his mind) racists. If some black guy doesn't like the racial aspect of something he does, tough shit. He has his I'm-Progressive-I-Can't-Be-Racist-Card-So-Fuck-You Card with the But-White-People-(Not-me)-Definitely-Are-All-Racist-And-Stupid-Especially-If-They're-Republicans cashback deal and he's not giving it up.
Here Althouse defends uber-progressive superhero Jon Stewart being belligerently racist- very interesting, but stupid...
tried everyone's patience, had some heavy psychological issues, and that he had to be squelched as they worked on the material for their daily show. I think they did have some empathy for [him] and they respected his voice. That comes across in even in [his]subjective version of the story. But they could not give him the power to veto sketches and to drag down all the energy as they faced a deadline.
Taken out of context, and removing his name, this statement could apply to a lot of people, and a lot situations. I'm thinking of a former commenter around here, who tried the hostess' patience
I thought Stewart's "I don't like to read," is the offensive part, not the voice. And the audience is laughing because they are are trained seals. Mindless sheep.
I though if it were a Dem or Jesse Jackson, that clip of Cain would not be considered for mockery. He's not towing the line that says if you are black, you must be a Democrat. That's Cain's crime for Stewart. Fox is so wrong? Just doing what he and MSNBC would do if the tables were turned.
Ann, have you seen Jon on Comedians in Cars getting Coffee? Awkward, weirdly so, and not funny. Paco Wove is spot on with Larry David and many others. Often socially weird cranks.
Clearly not as U-G-L-Y as using the Obamaphone lady to make a point.
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