Fans of popular pop group One Direction are angered by Comedy Central’s The Daily Show ISIS and al-Qaeda joke. Are internet users too sensitive? Or have the writers of The Daily Show gone too far by branding One Direction a terrorist group when one of the group’s members, Zayn Malik is Muslim?
On Tuesday, comedian Jessica Williams did a segment called “The Big Bang Area – The Next Big Terrorist Threat” on The Daily Show where she joked about the latest terrorist group that emerged in the Middle East.
Williams said that ISIS was not longer the “it” terrorist group at the moment, because the members of “Al Kill ya all” have taken over America and were exploding Starbucks stores.
While reporting on “Al Kill ya all” (which is Arabic for I will kill you all), Williams learned that another group of a sister/brother was created called “Al faak you all” that can detonate bombs with their minds.
But The Daily Show comedian received the news, that the ultimate terrorist supergroup had been formed in order to take over the world.
The mega terrorist group was composed with a member of ISIS, Al Nusra, Al Qaeda, Hamas, One Direction and the Zetas drug cartel. The faux Senior Pentagon Correspondent said:
“Just as you were talking, a new terrorist group has formed, with one member each from ISIS, Al Nusra, Al Qaeda, Hamas, One Direction and the Zetas drug cartel.”
She went on to explain that they have plans to hijack planes and take them to Cuba because they are old school.
The audience and The Daily Show‘s host Jon Stewart laughed at the joke, but One Direction fans were appalled.
Within minutes, the #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar and #ZaynDefenseSquad were trending on Twitter.
Millions of One Direction fans blasted The Daily Show for being insensitive by having the name of the band in a segment about terrorism.
Many One Direction supporters asked were the writers of The Daily Show aware that Zayn Malik from One Direction is a Muslim?
A fan said Zayn Malik is a hero who saves life (fans claimed that he saved 100,000 lives and has donated half of million Euros to charity) and makes the world happy, how can The Daily Show call him a terrorist?
One Direction backers were especially offended by The Daily Show joke because Malik who is of Pakistani decent and a practicing Muslim is often blasted by internet haters who call him a terrorist. Another one demanded that The Daily Show be canceled.
Others want Jon Stewart to be removed from Twitter.
The Daily Show did reply to the One Direction scandal saying that they were not aware of the fact that Malik is Muslim. Stewart’s half apology read:
Dear 1D fans: We didn’t know the band members’ names, religions, hobbies, etc. Just knew they were popular. But not THIS popular. #whoa
The One Direction Daily Show joke has started an intense debate on satire. Should people get offended when a fake news mock celebrities?
Do comedians need to be less aggressive?
