'Daily Show' Terrorist Joke 'Gone To Far'? One Direction's Zayn Malik Defended On Twitter By Angry Fans
The Daily Show has found themselves in an unenviable position: right in the crosshairs of One Direction’s passionate fan base. In a segment on the show this week, cast member Jessica Williams delivered a joke about terrorists, in which she mentioned the musical group. Now fans are accusing the show of specifically targeting Zayn Malik, a member who happens to be Muslim. The angry teens have taken to Twitter, creating several hashtags to voice their objection. So far there has been no comment from Malik or anyone else connected to 1D.
On Tuesday night, Williams riffed to host John Stewart, “Just as you were talking, a new terrorist group formed, with one member each from ISIS, Al-Nursa, Al-Quaeda, Hamas, One Direction and the Zetas drug cartel.” Presumably, none of the show’s writers realized that the group has a Muslim member, and the joke was simply a reference to the fanatical nature of their followers, but it seems the humor was lost on said followers. On Friday morning, hashtags such as #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar, #ZaynSavesNotKills and #ZaynDefenseSquad began to go viral.
Angry One Directioners are accusing the show of racism and Islamaphobia, tweeting sentiments like, “People assume every Muslim is a terrorist based on religion and skin color but some of them are the nicest people ever #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar.” Some have expressed extreme adoration of the singer, with tweets like, “How can some people call Zayn a terrorist when he is an angel from heaven #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar”; “WHY WOULD YOU SAY HE IS A TERRORIST? ZAYNE IS ONE OF THE BEST PERSONS IN THE WORLD #thedailyshowgonetoofar”; and “HIS SMILE CAN END WARS AND CURE CANCER. WHY DO YOU CALL HIM A TERRORIST #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar.”
A few fans have gone as far as to express violent sentiments, tweeting things like, “People like that should die #sorrynotsorry #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar”; “i hope the daily show got suspended in a few hours may them burn in hell (smiley and dagger emoticons) #TheDailyShowGoneToFar”; and “#thedailyshowgonetoofar if you called him a terrorist, I suggest you take 8381 steps back before i actually kill you.”
The Daily Show, meanwhile responded with their own tweet, saying, “Dear 1D fans: We didn’t know the band members’ names, religions, hobbies, etc. Just knew they were popular. But not THIS popular. #whoa.” Unsurprisingly, many fans seem unconvinced, and have continued to tweet their displeasure. Whatever happens next, we can likely expect to see a segment about this mess on an upcoming episode of the show.