Trevor Noah, who replaced Jon Stewart as host of 'The Daily Show' on Comedy Central earlier this year, has spoken out on the stereotyping of Muslims following Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, France.
Noah was a performer on Saturday during the sold-out New York Comedy Festival. Noah dedicated a section of his performance to the serious issue.
"We saw it with the attacks yesterday," Noah told the audience at the sold-out Town Hall theater. "Immediately people say 'it's Muslims. It's Islam. I hate that religion'. It's not the religion. Islam means peace. I'm not even Muslim, but I'm not even comfortable with this. Islam means peace. It's so easy now to label it as a terrorist religion."
Noah spoke with passion during this segment but drove home his point with humor.
"The truth is most Muslim people are not terrorists," Noah said. "Most, 99.9% of Muslim people are not terrorists. How do we know this? Because we’re still alive. You understand? There are more than a billion Muslim people on the planet... They have ample opportunities. Those falafels that we buy after the club at midnight? Most Muslims are not terrorists."
Noah joins a chorus of late-night entertainers who have also spoken out about the attacks. John Oliver dedicated the opening segment of his HBO show Sunday night to the news, going on a profanity-laced rant in which he repeatedly referred to the terrorists as "a--holes."
Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher also made statements over the weekend. 'Saturday Night Live' did away with its usual comedic cold open and instead had cast member Cecily Strong open with a message to Paris in both English and French.
The death toll from the attacks is now more than 120 with hundreds more suffering injuries. France has already begun a counterattack, launching air strikes against ISIS targets and beginning an international manhunt to capture a suspect involved in the attacks.
- StarPulse