Weird Al Takes On Political Correctness
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(Radio.com) From Bill Maher to Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock to John Cleese, comedians today are speaking out against what they see as a climate of suffocating political correctness. As comedian Jim Norton recently wrote, America "is addicted to the rush of being offended." "Weird Al" Yankovic is one of the funniest, and least offensive, comedians working today (and he just joined Comedy Central's Comedy Bang Bang as the bandleader; watch new episodes Friday nights at 11:30 ET). All of the artists that he parodies seem to love getting the "Weird Al" treatment. But what's his take on this issue? "That's a tough question. It's sort of a hot button topic, especially in comedy circles. It's hard for me to answer that. I'm a big believer in free speech; I think you should be allowed to say anything you want." "From a personal viewpoint," he continues, "There's definitely lines that I would not cross. I don't go into politics at all, just because I learned pretty quickly that that alienates half of your fan base. Even if it's an innocuous political joke, people will get really mad. So I do feel there are some times where people get a little bit more [air quotes] 'offended.'" Echoing the aforementioned Jim Norton quote, he says, "Especially in our online culture, people get addicted to being offended. They look for things to be offended by. And some things probably are very offensive, and some things would probably be better left unsaid. But I would say there's maybe a little bit more of that currently in our culture than I personally like." Read more here. Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com. |
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