Comedian Trevor Noah apologized over the weekend after he was accused of racism on social media after he offensively mocked an Indian accent.
“As a comedian I use comedy to process pain and discomfort in my world but I am sorry that this hurt you and others, that’s not what I was trying to do,” Trevor Noah said.
“It’s amazing to me that my joke about the conflict in India and Pakistan trended more than the story of the actual conflict itself. Sometimes it seems like people are more offended by the jokes comedians make about an issue than the issue itself,” he said in another post.
Noah angered many when he mocked the idea of a war between India and Pakistan by doing an over-the-top Indian accent, saying a war between the two nuclear powers would be “the most entertaining war of all time.”
Tensions between India and Pakistan heightened recently over border disputes.
Social media users lashed out at the liberal comedian, with one user calling his jokes “vile & despicable.”
Even Piers Morgan accused the Comedy Central star of being “despicably crass & racist.”
Noah has previously stated that racism should be treated like a disease.
“This is the question I ask myself all the time. When are we going to start treating racism like a disease?” the 35-year-old said in 2017.
“That’s my problem. When do we start treating racism like a disease? Because right now, think about it, if you look at an alcoholic, we go this person has a problem, and we treat you … I’m just saying. There was a time you would say, oh you’re just a drunk. Now we say you’ve got a problem. We need to help you. I think it’s the same with racism.”