- Comedian Leslie Jones appeared on ABC's "The View" on Monday and shared her opinion on celebrities like James Gunn coming under fire for resurfaced, controversial tweets.
- The Emmy-nominated star said that she's been doing comedy since the '80s and shouldn't be held "accountable" for some things she said at the time because she "wasn't smart."
- "Stop walking around so offended," she said. "You're not going to be able to survive life if you walk around offended."
Leslie Jones wants you to just just let her do her job. As a comedian, she says that just means being able to make people laugh, and do so without the worry of people dredging up the past.
On Monday, the "Saturday Night Live" star appeared on "The View" and was asked for her thoughts on the recent proliferation of celebrities including, James Gunn, Sarah Silverman and Dan Harmon, who had to face consequences after their old tweets that were deemed offensive resurfaced online.
Jones didn't mince words, telling the show's co-hosts, "I think that's so stupid. It's just so dumb."
She went on to say she's been working in comedy since 1986. And if you looked back through her career, it would definitely include inappropriate material, but she doesn't believe anyone should hold her accountable for what she said in 1987.
"I mean, I wasn't smart! Do you know what I'm saying? I'm so happy social media wasn't going on in my twenties," Jones said. "I would be the comeback kid. Y'all would be sitting there going, 'Oh, she is so respectable now.'"
Jones continued to press her point by telling the co-hosts that people need to "stop holding comedians to this standard."
"Our job is to make the ugliest stuff funny; that's our job," she said. "We are court jesters, we are clowns. That's what we do. We come out and we make this terrible situation laughable, unless you wanna cry for the rest of your life."
She added, "You're not letting comedians do their job, and you're miserable ... because laughter is a release that you are now cutting off. Stop walking around so offended. You're not going to be able to survive life if you walk around offended."
In recent weeks, it hasn't just been comedians that have been feeling the heat over old tweets. "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn — who is a vocal critic of President Trump and was set to helm the franchise's third installment — was fired by Disney after far-right media personalities resurfaced his years-old tweets. The tweets, which have now been deleted, made light of sensitive subjects including pedophilia, rape, the 9/11 terror attacks, and the holocaust.
Walt Disney chairman Alan Horn said the "offensive attitudes and statements" represented in Gunn's tweets were "indefensible and inconsistent" with the studio's values when he announced that the studio had fired the director.
In the weeks since Gun was fired, the film's cast including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana have rallied around the director and asked the studio to rehire him for the film. Fan support for the director has also been strong, and a petition with more than 250,000 signatures asking Disney to rehire him is currently circulating online.
Gunn's tweets and subsequent firing have had a snowball effect in Hollywood. "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon left Twitter after a nearly decade-old sketch resurfaced online, which according to the AV Club, featured Harmon assaulting a baby doll. Harmon quickly released a statement apologizing for the sketch, admitting that he "quickly realized the content was way too distasteful and took the video down immediately."
Similarly, comedian Sarah Silverman is also being forced to defend herself over a joke she made on Twitter in 2009 that made light of pedophilia.
And "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson preemptively deleted 20,000 tweets in an effort to avoid getting tangled in controversy at the hands of conservative trolls.
Watch the video below (Jones talks about comedy at 2:36).
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