Dan Abrams Calls Out Jon Stewart Complaining His JK Rowling Remarks Were Twisted: He Took People Out of Context ‘Almost Every Night’
Mediaite founder and NewsNation host Dan Abrams criticized comedian Jon Stewart for complaining that a clip of him mocking the portrayal of the goblins in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series as anti-Semitic was taken out of context.
“Talking to people, here’s what I say – ‘have you ever seen a Harry Potter movie? Have you ever seen the scenes in Gringotts Bank? Do you know what those folks who run the bank are? Jews,’” he said in a podcast episode in December that went viral this week courtesy of progressive activist Rafael Shimunov.
Abrams showed that Newsweek ran a piece about it with the headline “Jon Stewart Accuses J.K. Rowling of Antisemitism in ‘Harry Potter.’”
Abrams then played a clip of Stewart responding to the piece.
“I do not think J.K. Rowling is anti-Semitic. I did not accuse her of being anti-Semitic,” said Stweart on Wednesday. “I do not think that the Harry Potter movies are anti-Semitic. I really love the Harry Potter movies, probably too much for a gentleman of my considerable age.”
Newsweek et al, may eat my ass. pic.twitter.com/eRoYYeNRi1
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 5, 2022
“Fair enough. He didn’t accuse her of anti-Semitism,” said Abrams. “But is it really such a stretch to say that you did?”
Abrams then played a clip of Stewart saying during the podcast episode
“I just want to show you a caricature. And they’re like, ‘Oh, look at that, that’s from Harry Potter!’” said Stewart. “And you’re like, ‘No, that’s a caricature of a Jew from an anti-Semitic piece of literature.’ J.K. Rowling was like, ‘Can we get these guys to run our bank!’”
The literature Stewart was referring to was Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a classic anti-Semitic work from the early 20th century.
“Okay, he’s making a joke. But these days, all of us are being held to account for our joking and serious comments, maybe too much so.”
Abrams aired part of Stewart’s Newsweek response where he said, “Not a reasonable person could not have looked at that conversation and not found it lighthearted. So let me say this instead to Newsweek: Your business model is arson and now all the heads pile into this ridiculously out of context nonsense.”
Abrams remarked, “I’d say Jon Stewart complaining about taking a clip out of context is interesting when he did that almost every night while hosting The Daily Show. He did it really well by the way, and he would say he was just a comedian, not a journalist. But feels like an effort to offer political commentary with no accountability.”
“But Jon Stewart’s a smart, funny guy. I don’t think he meant to call J.K. Rowling out for being anti-Semitic. But I’m sure there are a lot of people who ended up in one of his clip montages over the years that were just as frustrated as he is now.”
Watch above, via NewsNation.
