On Monday, South African comedian Trevor Noah was announced as the new host of The Daily Show following Jon Stewart’s departure sometime this year, a prestigious position that fans of the show do not take lightly.

Noah is fairly unknown in the U.S. (he’s only appeared as contributor on the show three times so far), so many Daily Show fans followed the press into the recesses of Twitter to find out more about the comic this week, only to find some unsettling posts in his repertoire.

He and Comedy Central immediately faced backlash online, as people re-tweeted and singled out several tweets that may be considered offensive. When these jokes can be taken out of the context of a stage persona or comedy club, they often come across as sexist, racist or anti-semitic.

Stewart himself has seen plenty of hate for idle comments he’s made over the years, including when he made an off-handed joke about not voting in the midterm elections last year.

But because he’s so new to U.S. television, people responded quickly, asking why his social accounts were not more carefully vetted and calling for Comedy Central to pick someone more likable and less likely to ruffle feathers.

Noah tweeted his own defense on Tuesday:

Comedy Central released a statement that followed the same line of defense, adding that part of the reason the network chose him is his provocative nature:

“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.”

Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi called the uproar “much ado about nothing,” suggesting that Noah get off social media altogether: “Here’s the thing: Once Trevor Noah takes the chair of The Daily Show, he’s going to have a huge platform to say all kinds of things that he wants to say.”

Fellow comedians also commented on the issue, notably standup, TV personality and author Patton Oswalt, who posted a commentary about taking comedians’ tweets out of context in a 54-part Twitter series.

His tweets start off with a joke, leading into likely responses, apologies and over-sensitive reactions any comedian in 2015 has likely experienced.

Oswalt’s comments, though split up into 140-character tweets, included the commentary below on hypersensitivity to out-of-context jokes in the Internet age:

“But context, as we know, does not matter. Only individual words and feelings do, so as always, and from now on, no matter what the intent, aim, or satirical content the deepest apology is offered to ANYONE, ANYWHERE, for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER who found any offense in the previous joke.”

He added later on Twitter: “COMEDY IS MESSY AND I WANT IT TO STAY THAT WAY sorry for shouting.”

The series of tweets, many of which re-tweeted or favorited more 1,000 times, ended in this piece of advice:

The comedy community responded in kind. Check out some of the responses below:

Read more at The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter.

Brief Take: As with any new comedian in 2015, Noah will face some hate on his way to Stewart’s desk, but with Comedy Central and his fellow comics behind him, he has a promising start and his diverse point of view can mean great things for both Comedy Central and late-night on TV.

[Image courtesy of Comedy Central]

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