“The Daily Show” is Dope. Period. End quote.
The women of The Daily Show put together a letter addressing recent inaccurate, unfounded, slanted, just plain rude criticism of the show.
Dear People Who Don’t Work Here,
Recently, certain media outlets have attempted to tell us what it’s like to be a woman at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. We must admit it is entertaining to be the subjects of such a vivid and dramatic narrative. However, while rampant sexism at a well-respected show makes for a great story, we want to make something very clear: the place you may have read about is not our office.
The Daily Show isn’t a place where women quietly suffer on the sidelines as barely tolerated tokens. On the contrary: just like the men here, we’re indispensable. We generate a significant portion of the show’s creative content and the fact is, it wouldn’t be the show that you love without us.
The New York Times wrote an article about it yesterday and spoke with me about it:
“Ms. Munn said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that she “personally felt a lot of guilt” for the criticism that her hiring raised.”
By the way, I’d like to add a few important things people DON’T know about The Daily Show:
1. There is a bucket of gold on each of our desks every morning.
2. Everyone at the show is diligantly working to not only bring you a great show every night, but also to create affordable hoverboards for every man, woman and child.
3. The Executive Producer Rory Albanese declared Fridays, “Friday Braid Day!” We all get in a line and braid eachother’s hair. He said it gives us a sense of “community” and it symbolizes the “intertwining of societies, cultures, races and sexes”. (editor’s note: Rory may or may not have said any of this)
These are just a few things people have left out that I think are pretty awesome about working at The Daily Show.
Jul 7, 2010 |
2. Everyone at the show is diligantly (diligently). Yes, I think your hard work truly does show in the show. However, I don’t think you were DILIGENT enough to spell check your article. I really mean well, it’s just that misspelled words commonly pop out at me wherever I look. I know. Who the hell does this guy think he is? Olivia works her ass off for multiple stations (love Current TV) and this bozo points out one word. BTW, I was thrilled at your interview with that guy from AZ. Truly hilarious. Keep up the great work. I just don’t want to see any more typos. UGH!
“Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it”. ~Honore de Balzac
It’s neat to see the Daily Show staff take a stance against those allegations.
I’ll be honest: I didn’t know much about Olivia Munn until I was handed an advance copy of her book — I just thought she was some girl who tried to be Playboy’s answer to the Geek world or something. Suck It, Wonder Woman completely changed my perspective!
It’s actually because of how great the book was that I decided to pass along the laughs by giving away a copy at CollegiateCook.com. (http://bit.ly/d78HyZ)
Keep it up!
Another chick over here who loves you on Attack of the Show and can’t wait to see you grow on The Daily Show. Each skit shows just how great of an addition you are to the show.
I’m pretty pissed that the mindset is you can’t be a bombshell and look good in a bikini and still be serious comic. Any hottie can stand there and look pretty but it takes a special kind of girl to go beyond the fact that she lucked out in the gene pool and actually make people lough out loud. A bikini may get someone attention, but the offers to actually speak come from the fact that 90% of the things that come out of the actor’s mouth are hilarious.
Silly hardcore skewed view feminists. I don’t think old school protestors burned their bras so that women wouldn’t be able to flaunt their boobs in public.
So I Googled Irin Carmon to find out who she was and what do I find as the first image result. http://www.mediabistro.com/content/original/DSC06977a.jpg . Irin posing for a picture with the editor in chief and assistant editor of Playboy magazine. If she’s so worried about sexism maybe she should talk to her Playboy buddies and leave Olivia alone.
Olivia I think it’s awesome you landed the Daily Show job.
You go Girl!!!
I Googled Irin Carmon to find out who she was and what do I find as the first image result. “www(dot)mediabistro(dot)com/content/original/DSC06977a(dot)jpg ” Irin posing for a picture with the editor in chief and assistant editor of Playboy magazine. If she is so worried about sexism maybe she should talk to her Playboy buddies and leave Olivia alone.
Olivia I think it’s awesome you landed the Daily Show job.
You go Girl!!!
I find its my duty as a gamer, attack of the show and Olivia Munn fan to flame this Jezebel place/thing/person whatever the fuck it is. Olivia is not just good looks shes like the total package I find her funny and smart as hell in attack of the show and everything else shes in. Its like shes not ‘performing’ or pretending to be somthing shes not, shes just being her near perfect self.
Hello man, I was just browsing the web looking for few information and came across your page. I am striked by the posts that you have on this blog. It shows how good you follow this issue. Bookmarked this blog, will return for more. You, buddy, ROll!!!
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I am so p-ssed about this would-be feminist bad-mouthing someone whose broadcast work she obviously has never seen. Anyone who’s watched you for even one segment of AOTS knows about your timing and your way with a deadpan and a “straight man” line that even makes Kevin’s ad libs seem funny sometimes. And you’ve added something fresh to the Daily Show. I really enjoyed that first “Vietnamese” bit, esp. with you and Sam Bee ragging on each other. How come no one’s pointing out that DS finally has another on-camera funny woman?
As for whether you “belong” on that show, apparently Jon S. thought so, huh? He doesn’t just hire pretty people at random. And it speaks volumes for your integrity that you jumped at the chance to do it even tho you’re gonna have to work around the sitcom shooting schedule, simply because “it’s the effin’ Daily Show, dude.”
If this Jezebel woman’s judging you based on how you look in a bikini (or the fact you’re often photographed wearing one), or your hot-dog shenanigans and pie dives, that’s a little disingenuous of her. The stunts and photo shoots you’ve done are actually pretty reserved by Hollywood standards these days. You should NOT feel guilty for advancing your career as intelligently as you have.
Are you too sexy to be funny and smart? Huh. Guess they used to tell that to Lucille Ball, Cameron Diaz, Liz Banks, etc., too, Maybe that’s why THEIR careers never went anywhere, LOL. But it’s your turn now. Go get ‘em, OM, and don’t let the haters slow you down.
And as Vrrmff rightly points out above, it’s all free publicity, baby. Rock it.
BTW just read that Evander Holyfield anecdote at NY Daily News site. LMAO. I’m gonna need to grab a copy of Suck It if it’s all like that. Wish I could go to your signing in Dallas but I’m workin’. You’ll just have to get along without me; I know how hard it is for you to draw a crowd LOL.
Other than a youtube clip involving a villain going into his ‘true feelings’ regarding being tied up by wonder woman, which I’m shallow enough to think was both hilarious, and be sympathetic the the villain, I had not seen your humor before The Daily Show.
The little bit I’ve seen, from the intro to the most recent field report in Arizona has been, well, great. The takedown of the hypocrisy of the Arizona legislator was one of the best I’ve seen.
Not that you particularly need to hear it from a geek in Indiana, but from where I sit you look like a multitalented comedian that’s earned everything she got.
And, okay yes, I want to bear your children. I’ll get past that.
Good luck.
oh god! I read the article and all the reader comments and all i have to say is: i’m a woman and i love munn! Albeit, i’m a gamer and a geek, but I still see you as a smart, extremely hilarious and talented woman. There is nothing wrong with your humor or how you carry yourself. I see you as genuine and so badass! They’re obviously jealous and i can’t take any of those comments seriously. They’re ultra-sensitive, humorless twits who are probably fat, ugly and miserable. Regardless, You rock and i can’t think of any TV personality that represents or supports women, especially geeky, gamer women, better than you! Seriously, fuck those guys lol
Ahh, jealousy, it can rear its ugly head in any situation. I didn’t expect Olivia’s appointment at the Daily Show to cause much of a stir, except to those of us who are fans and those who will become fans through her appearances there. But controversy follows those who are popular so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Now I have read that Olivia dislikes the fact that some of us defend her in situations such as this, as she is a strong woman who is fully capable of defending herself. But some hype deserves deflation by the demographic its sword is pointed at. Olivia is extremely beautiful….thats a given and yes she is very sexy. But as an older man, what attracted me toward my eventual fandom was that she is extremely funny, funny in ways that I hadn’t seen sice Lucille Ball, Martha Raye or Phyllis Diller. As far as the claim that she exploits her sexuallity, ridiculous…..I have seen many videos and AOTS segements where she lampoons and makes light of her sex star status. Clearly not someone who is using sex to drive her career. And what makes me the Olivia Munn fanatic that I am? The critics should see how she treats us, the fans. Literally every time she recieves a pat on the back, a new career path, recognition for things that she has done, she thanks us. She bends over backwards to get close to us, to let us photograph her, to talk with her, spends long hours signing things for us, when truly she owes us nothing. Would Lindsey Lohan or Brittany Spears handle stardom like that? No they wouldn’t and damn few of Hollywood does or would. I have read that she exploits the ” geek or nerd ” factor for the profit of her career, the Star Trek and Star Wars set who will never see a hot woman up close or have sex one. They say she has become their fantasy girl, even though they have no hope of ever attaining a woman like her and that she has used this to her advantage. Well, I am a Star Wars and Trek geek and I have been married to the same gorgeous woman for 22 years and have 5 children 20 through 10 years of age. So, to Olivia’s critics I submit that as a nerd, the record will show that I have copulated at least five times in my life. The hypocrites at Jezebel are just looking to attach themselves to the coat tales of the juggernaut career of Olivia Munn to make a name for themselves. Until this….I’d never heard of them, or any of the other media thugs that seem to like berating her. Sorry for the long post but I had just grown tired of seeing such a talented, funny and super sweet, caring young woman beat down for being famous and in demand…..oh yes, and sexy, but us geeks, nerds and baby elephants out there already know what a gem she is. Not defending her, just stating the facts as I see them.
After all the controversy of your receiving the appointment to the Daily Show, I was anxious to see how you’d do. The piece wqas brilliant! You are an excellent addition to the crew and you have excellent comedic timing. So screw all the critics - you are where you belong! Now make us laugh some more!
Hey Olivia! Congratulations on the new gig! I miss seeing you on AOTS (you and Kevin are hysterical together!), but I’m happy to hear you’re out conquering the world. Good luck and don’t let the haters bring you down.
hating is just a redirected form of jealousy, so haters can go suck a colostomy bag, lolol.
that’s a lot of white, Jewish woman there! ;D
I just read your interview on Salon, and I have to say you seem like an amazing person. I love that you are unashamed of your beauty and so many other positive attributes. It’s just a shame that when someone stands out, others feel threatened and must attack. As Joan D. Vinge said: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death.” Me? I’m ugly as hell, but I do have a quick wit & an ability to tell stories, and I’m amazed at how much the few gifts I do have that stand out are attacked. Anyways, keep on being amazing, and remember that just because the douche bags of the world may be loud, at the end of the day they are still just douche bags.
Olivia Munn - I hope you don’t take this too seriously as an attack against you, maybe when your show starts taking comedy Emmys from 30 Rock Jezebel will place a 1 page retraction in the NY Times (doubt it).
Kudo’s to The Daily Show, John Stewart for their quick reaction to Irin Carmon’s blog.
The posts concern was that The Daily Show needed more women on the writing staff, yet the Masthead for Jezebel.com fails to have a single male name (or at least what I’d guess was a male name). I guess they are ok with the all female staff, its ok to reverse discriminate.
From the Jez page:
JEZEBEL TEAM
Editor-in-Chief:Jessica Coen
Deputy Editor:Dodai Stewart
Senior Writer:Tracie Egan Morrissey
Contributing Editor:Sadie Stein
Writers:Irin Carmon, Anna North
Editorial Assistant:Margaret Hartmann
Contributors:Jenna Sauers, Katy Kelleher
Founding Editor: Anna Holmes
Interns: Maura Canavan, Noorain Khan, Lucy Zhihui Zhu
Weekends/Commenter Moderator: Hortense
I bet bashing The Daily Show, has tripled Jezebels hits, I know I’ve gone to their sight, to reference their texts for posts 5 or 6 times. I really hope they don’t get advertising dollars for hits, it would suck that I’m supporting them financially while not supporting their literary actions.
Attractive people in every field of endeavor are subject to the same made-up controversy. It’ll blow over, and Our Heroine will make it or not based solely on talent and performance.
And if TDS hired on looks alone, how the hell did John Oliver get hired, eh? Or Rob Corddry? By being funny as hell and talented, that’s how.
Now, can we PLEASE get back to the sophomoric sex humor???
I am a woman, and I think you are freakin’ hilarious! (I love Attack of the Show, and it has definitely suffered from your absence) I am so sorry for what you have been through, and I just wanted to let you know that not all women feel that way. Feminism is about the right to do and be WHATEVER YOU WANT! Yes, you are very attractive, but you are also very funny, and you deserve a shot at The Daily Show just as much as any other woman…or man…or whatever. I wish you the very best of luck!
Glad you posted something about this. I couldn’t believe it when I read that article.
You are much more than great looks.
That is awesome. You go Sista-girl.
I was skeptical when I was first saw Olivia- and didn’t know anything about modeling or game shows, but it’s instantly obvious that she’s there purely on merit. As Oscar Wilde said, you don’t read your press, you weigh it. Even here in England, many of us know the Daily Show is the best thing on TV, whether you want to learn or laugh.
You go girls.
That’s awesome Olivia :)! No sexist assholes….Hover-boards….and Pots of GOLD! COME ON!! What more could you want! Screw those bastards who are consistently trying to slander the whole cast and crew, they apparently have no idea what goes on, so they just want to sit there and make up some bullshit to create controversy. I read that article Jezebel wrote about you. You need to pay them a little visit and bitch-slap em!
fart
Olivia can’t help it that she’s hot. They hired her for the whole package. She can deliver the funny. She’s not standing off to the side, in a bikini, holding up a card stating what round it is. Sheesh! Fuck off, Jezebel.com!
Olivia, it is crappy for you to be treated this way by Jezebel. I thought feminists were supposed to be “go team!” instead they’re treating you as a non-person and diminishing your accomplishments because you’re easy on the eyes.
It might make things harder in the meantime, but accept it for what it is - shitloads of free publicity and people who have never heard of you finding out that you are a smokin’ hot talent.
awesome olivia
great articles!!!! it sucks that u guys even had to write such a letter, but some good punch lines in there loved it lol
Congrats Olivia =).
Awesome post Olivia. So happy that the daily show crew is kick-ass and your apart of it.
Awesome article. You and those girls rock!
If you were hired just for your looks, then Daily Show got more than their money’s worth, since you were f’n hilarious in your two segments so far.
You rock Munn! Let the Haters eat cake and STFU. Pie for the winners!
Olivia is Munn-derful. Seriously It is your and Kevin’s banter that made AOTS great. Don’t worry about the haters. They are just jealous that they cant eat pie and look as good as you.
Excellent. It’s this sort of collective truth-setting that will save all sane Americans…!
A) I hadn’t heard about this until your blog post.
B) Seriously, look at the articles and especially the comments on Jezebel. They skew very heavily toward the catty. Women have evolved to be jealous of more attractive women, and that’s all there is to the criticism. And by attractive, that doesn’t mean just physically attractive.
C) Olivia was clearly hired for comedic skills as much or more than for appearance. The Daily Show correspondent segments require great comedic timing, the appearance is a bonus.
This just seems like one site coming up with a narrative and doing everything it can to stick to it, even when the facts don’t agree. Kudos to Olivia for staying classy and true to herself, and hopefully realizing that one site writer and a few commenters don’t represent the rest of the world. Anybody can write whatever they want about her, as long as she knows herself and sticks to it she will continue to be successful and loved by the vast majority who she entertains.
Very well stated. I agree completely.
It’s this sort of collective truth-setting that will save all sane Americans…!
Spectacular!!! go Munn GO!!!