Russell Peters Defends Joe Rogan from ‘Bulls***’ Cancel Culture Attacks
Indian stand-up slams woke comedy critics: They want to 'erase the history'
Russell Peters is no stranger to Cancel Culture.
Except when the Indian comic first ran into it early in his career, no one called it by that name. His ’90s-era act, which featured him performing Indian accents apart from his accent-free speaking voice, made some enemies north of the border.
“People called into the [the Canadian network] telling them they’re gonna boycott the CBC if they ever play me again,” Peters told the hosts of “Triggernometry,” the anti-woke podcast starring Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster.
What triggered Peters’ critics?
“They didn’t know I was Indian because of my name, and I was making jokes about Indian names,” Peters told the hosts.
Later in the conversation, Foster slammed cultural critiques who dissect older comedy routines for not aligning with today’s cultural mores.
“There’s nothing that frustrates me more than when people look at a clip from 15, 20 years ago and budget it how you would judge something from 2023,” Foster said. “It’s so ridiculous.”
“They want to erase the history. You cannot erase the past. You need that there so you don’t make the same mistakes twice,” Peters said. “If you have no point of reference you’re gonna completely f*** things up again.”
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That led Kisin to bring up attempts to “cancel” Joe Rogan last year by taking select sound bites out of context. The Spotify superstar’s critics dug up instances of him using the “n-word” repeatedly but stripping the full meaning of the conversations in question.
They framed him to get him fired. It didn’t work.
“That was serious bulls*** and they tried to peg him as a racist. I know him very very well … I’ve been to his house. I know his wife. I know his kids. I know everything,” Peters said. “This is not the guy you’re trying to paint him out to be.”
Samuel L. Jackson slams Joe Rogan's N-word use, defends Quentin Tarantino https://t.co/ShYoXhQUYM pic.twitter.com/359HCE6Knb
— New York Post (@nypost) February 28, 2022
Peters even defended Rogan from celebrity naysayers like far-Left comedian D.L. Hughley.
“Darryl, I’m telling you, if he was a racist I’d be the first one to tell you … he’s not. Stop trying to paint him like that,” he said, before adding, “They’re trying to take away his Spotify money.”
Last year, Peters blistered Cancel Culture, saying its bullying tactics should be condemned.
Comedians must push boundaries, he explained during a Canadian TV interview.
“The words are irrelevant. Everything is about intent,” he said. “We’re free thinkers. The minute you try to put reigns on our brains you ruin the game.”
Peters started his conversation with the “Triggernometry” hosts by sharing his comic philosophy.
“Whatever is taboo is the more fun stuff to talk about,” Peters said. “You wanna bring it up just to hear the reaction … [as a comedian] your job is to ruffle feathers.”
What better place to do so than on “Triggernometry?”
Probably people were stupidly trying to paint Joe Rogan as a racist because they didn’t like him or the things he says or his reach or his influence. Really, Joe Rogan’s alleged racism is the smallest of his problems. A tiny fraction of his overall shambling horribility.
Anyway, again, thank you Cristain for really giving me something to “stink my beef into” if you catch my drift.
“Smallest of his problems”
Yeah. Joe has SO many problems. He has the #1 podcast for years running, has his own comedy club that is thriving, all his comedian buddies have moved to Austin to be part of the scene that he helped create, and is doing whatever the hell he wants. Yeah. Joe has SO many problems.
Does that mean it’s OK to unfairly label him a racist? Does it?