Comedy Central: Trevor Noah Tweets Getting Backlash

Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, the newly announced host of The Daily Show, on Tuesday rejected the backlash over his graphic tweets targeting Jews and women. "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian," Noah tweeted.

Comedy Central also came to his defense, calling Noah a "provocative" comedian who "spares no one, including himself." "To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair," the network said in a statement, adding that he has "a bright future at Comedy Central." Noah was announced as Jon Stewart's successor on Monday.

Noah's tweets were posted between 2009 and 2014. 2009: "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!" 2011: "Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!" He attributed the joke to "fat chicks everywhere."

Noah, the son of a black South African mother and white European father who speaks six languages, was being pitched by Comedy Central as reflecting a new age of global multiculturalism, "a citizen of the world," in the words of Michele Ganeless, the network's president.

Monday, Ganeless said: "They will get to discover him, and form their opinions of him, as they watch him host." But by Tuesday, some opinions were already forming. A Slate column compared his vetting to that of Sarah Palin as a running mate for presidential candidate John McCain.