Wyatt Cenac: Jon Stewart Screamed "Fuck Off" When I Objected to Joke
In a newly released episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Daily Show alum Wyatt Cenac recounted his troubled relationship with host Jon Stewart, which culminated in a blow up over an impression the former correspondent found racially insensitive.
[There was a video here]
Cenac says Stewart screamed at him after he admitted cringing at an impression of Herman Cain he found reminiscent of the Amos ‘n’ Andy character Kingfish.
“He got incredibly defensive,” Cenac told Maron:
“I remember he was like, ‘What are you trying to say? There’s a tone in your voice.’ I was like, ‘There’s no tone. It bothered me.’ And then he got upset. He stood up and he was just like, ‘Fuck off. I’m done with you.’ And he just started screaming that to me, and he screamed it a few times. ‘Fuck off! I’m done with you.’ And he stormed out. I didn’t know if I had been fired.”
Cenac said he had an emotional breakdown after the confrontation but stayed on the show for another miserable year before quitting.
“I was shaking, and I just sat there by myself on the bleachers and fucking cried. And it’s a sad thing,” Cenac told Maron. “That’s how I feel. That’s how I feel in this job: I feel alone.”
“I represent my community,” added Cenac. “I represent my people, and I try to represent them the best that I can. I gotta be honest if something seems questionable, because if not, then I don’t want to be in a position where I am being untrue not just to myself but to my culture, because that’s exploitative.”
