Why I’m Finally Writing Off ‘The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore’
This is a very painful op-ed to write. Actually, surprisingly, incredibly painful. I wanted this show, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, to succeed. When many others walked away simply because “He’s not Colbert,” I was there. Supporting, signal boosting, and wanting this show to be the beacon of hope marginalized groups needed in comedy. A beacon dropped by FX (and subsequently FXX) when they got rid of Totally Biased with W. Kamau Belle.
Larry, I came to see your show live; it was part of my Christmas present to my fiancee (albeit a free present but I still took the time!). Hell I even reviewed your first week, very positively. I wanted, so badly, for this show to work. I had hoped the Nightly crew would eventually tackle transgender issues. You did… And you officially dropped the ball in trying to cover Diane Sawyer’s interview with Bruce Jenner.
Gothamist does a pretty good takedown right here of the segment but left out the panel discussion portion of your program entirely. To your credit you did get two out and proud trans people on, but your attitude and “comedic persona,” deserved that whole packet of weak tea. Maybe even a warehouse of weak tea. When the panelist tried to engage in conversation you, or the other comedian on the show, were so stuck in the realm of “I don’t understand,” you basically showed that you are not interested in engaging in this discussion.
I know you “didn’t want to offend anybody,” because you said so constantly on the broadcast, but it was really uncomfortable to watch you and one of your guests talk over trans people as they attempted to get their point across and be funny as well. Maybe that’s your way of “keepin’ it a hundred,” but that doesn’t mean it’s not bullshit. Maybe if you’d listened you would have understood.
I remember when the scandal about Trevor Noah’s “anti-Semitic” and “fat shaming” twitter jokes resurfaced and everyone was shocked that they’d have a man like him take over for Jon Stewart… I wasn’t at all surprised. Both Colbert and Stewart have made jokes at the expense of trans people so why would I be surprised? My opinion, as a comedic writer — Noah’s tweets weren’t funny but there have been worse. If I’m keepin’ it a hundred about your show the other night Mr. Wilmore… I guess I should have expected it.
I shall be removing The Nightly Show subscription from my Hulu (Gods that sounds anticlimactic… BUT IT’S ALL I’VE GOT!). In the future Mr. Wilmore, if you want to make a joke about a marginalized group you are not a part of you have to make yourself the butt of the joke. Instead, Larry Wilmore, you’re just a butt.
#LarryWilmoreIsAButt
