Comedian Says Netflix Axed Her Trump Joke: ‘It’s Not Gonna Be in the Cut’
Comedian Whitney Cummings revealed that Netflix cut her joke about President Donald Trump from its upcoming broadcast of the 27th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, streaming July 21.
This year’s event, which was taped live at the Kennedy Center on June 28, honors comedian and pundit Bill Maher. The prize is designed to recognize individuals who emulate novelist Mark Twain’s “fearless” observations on “society and personal folly,” according to the Kennedy Center’s webpage for the event.
In an episode of her Good For You podcast from July 3, Cummings revealed she removed some Trump-related roasts from her set, which she performed during the ceremony, at the behest of employees at the Kennedy Center.
“I was practicing my jokes, and people were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll get fired if you say that,'” she said. “And I’m like, that is the worst thing you can hear as a comic, it was kind of roast-y. … What a dork, I’m like, if he even watches this, he is such a dork. But I did cut a joke, and I feel the need to just say it: … ‘For Trump to put his name on the Kennedy Center, this is petty even for him, but Trump has always hated John F. Kennedy because the Kennedys had Marilyn Monroe killed before he had a chance to grab her by the p***y.'”
Nonetheless, one Trump joke did make it into her set, and she performed it live during the ceremony.
“I actually heard Trump may come tonight, but he couldn’t make it. He got caught in sex traffic,” she said, alluding to Trump’s former association and friendship with convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
But Netflix axed the joke from its upcoming special, Cummings revealed in her latest podcast episode on July 18. The joke was widely publicized in the media following the live event, but it would not make it into the broadcast.
“Not only did I have to cut a joke in rehearsal, then the joke I did, I ended on, … it stayed in, and then they said, ‘We would like to cut it out,'” she said.
She continued, “They said, ‘We need to cut it from the broadcast,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, it’s already out there. Who cares?’ And they’re like, ‘He will sue you.'”
Cummings claimed she would have won the lawsuit as she did not accuse Trump of child sex trafficking in particular, although Kennedy Center employees allegedly warned her that Trump might not sue her right away but could do so four or five years down the line.
“They were like, you’ll always have this hanging over your head, and you never know when he’ll get bored and strike out of left field,” she said.
Watch above via YouTube.
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