Daniel Tosh apologizes for rape joke with dead babies reference

Jul, 12, 2012 | AUTHOR: Darren O; | Related : Daniel Tosh, Louis C.K.

Daniel Tosh is the master of internet oddball viral video ceremonies for his smash hit show on Comedy Central Tosh.0. If you watch the show regularly (sorry Direct TV peeps) you know he doesn’t pull punches with his own raw brand of humor and that he’ll self-promote any upcoming stand-up performances on his calendar.

One of these recent gigs was at L.A.’s famous The Laugh Factory and Tosh got in some serious internet hot water over a complaint posted on Tumblr. Via Cookies For Breakfast a woman wrote about her unpleasant experience at the show and here is some of what she had to say:

So Tosh then starts making some very generalizing, declarative statements about rape jokes always being funny, how can a rape joke not be funny, rape is hilarious, etc. I don’t know why he was so repetitive about it but I felt provoked because I, for one, DON’T find them funny and never have. So I didn’t appreciate Daniel Tosh (or anyone!) telling me I should find them funny. So I yelled out, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny!”

After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment. Then, he says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…” and I, completely stunned and finding it hard to process what was happening but knowing i needed to get out of there, immediately nudged my friend, who was also completely stunned, and we high-tailed it out of there. It was humiliating, of course, especially as the audience guffawed in response to Tosh, their eyes following us as we made our way out of there. I didn’t hear the rest of what he said about me.

This offended audience member closed out her post by asking folks to “spread the word” and that they did causing enough damage to force a reply from Tosh himself about the incident. Here’s what he tweeted:

The owner of the club had a different recollection in regards to how the incident went down. Jamie Masada said Daniel asked the audience what they wanted to discuss, and someone shouted, “Rape,” to which said Tumblr author in the crowd replied, “No, rape is painful, don’t talk about it.” At that point Masada said that Tosh replied with something along the lines of, “Well, it sounds like she’s been raped by five guys.”

Just so you know, Daniel isn’t alone. Here’s arguably today’s most popular stand-up comedian Louis C.K. riffing on his own rape joke that starts off with Hitler but moves on to anyone (adult language etc):

So what do you think about Tosh’s rape joke? I think all things should be on the table for comedians, the greats have always pushed those boundaries. What is relevant in this particular case is the context; Tosh singled out a person, whom he claims was heckling him, in particular and joked in their presence about them being raped.

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noname

He says dumb crap like that all the time. If you can’t handle it, don’t go see him. I think he’s funny sometimes but other times he’s an idiot. Exactly why you won’t catch me in his audience…
Tosh Fan

I love Tosh…I love his show and he makes me laugh. This however is not funny. It hits me on a very personal level and I am not an overly sensitive person at all. Stand up is my favorite thing to watch and my husband and I frequent comedy clubs. How does he know that women hadn’t actually been raped? His words could have been traumatizing and I am pretty sure they were humilating regardless.
Jamie

The fact the woman did not want to talk about rape probably means that she experienced something or it was a topic that hit close to home for her. Regardless, to single out an audience member joking about a serious matter is not funny and is in horrible taste. It would be different if it was a less serious matter, but unfortunately, that is not Tosh’s style of comedy. I am not a fan of Tosh. I’ve seen his show, and it is simply ridiculous.
Babyvamp

I think he’s a moron. I’ve tried watching his show and its so painfully NOT funny. He’s not a comedian, more like that obnoxious outspoken kid you went to high school with. Thanks Viacom/Directv, I’m not missing much!! (:
Areyouserious

I think if you haw ever watched him, you would know his style of humor. He jokes about ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. And if you can’t handle that or get offended easily, you definitely shouldn’t go see him.
OhMyGeez

While I find the humor in a lot of his stuff, some of it is inappropriate and in poor taste. If you push the envelope too much, you end up pushing people away.
Nathan

Sounds like someone just trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. Anyone remotely familiar with Tosh knows that his style of humor is to push the envelope on controversial topics. If you’re that easily offended, then don’t go to his shows. And, certainly don’t interrupt the show by heckling.
Brittany

Um, no he shouldn’t have to apologize. She’s offended, get out. You can’t put one group above the others and to make him apologize to rape victims would be to make him apologize to black people, mexicans, mentally-challenged people, women, men, homosexuals, etc. He makes fun of it all. I’m a half-black woman and I love his show and could give a flying f*** about all of the black jokes or women jokes he makes.
He shouldn’t be heckled at his own show. It is his job and, as Seinfeld pointed out, do comedians come to our work and heckle us? No, so she should have closed her mouth, and just left if she didn’t like it.
He makes jokes like that, I would think she would have known and just left without heckling him. This is an extreme analogy but I wouldn’t show up at a KKK meeting and be offended. Freedom of speech, let them talk about what they want. He’s not some political candidate making gross remarks, he’s a f****** comedian.
vix

I don’t think he should of apologized. If your going to his show, than you have obviously seen his stuff before. And should know he makes jokes like that. If she wanted to be a big baby about sh*t than she should of just left.
Really?

Of course he has a right to make rape jokes. Of course people will always make rape jokes (unfortunately). The problem with rape jokes, or jokes about any violent crime, is that they validate and encourage the criminals who commit these violent crimes. Studies have shown that when these types of jokes are made, people who have desires to do such things or who have already done such things feel encouraged, validated, and even worshiped by the people making the jokes, and by those who agree with the jokes. If there’s any reason to not make jokes about violent crimes, it’s so that you don’t make yourself the criminal’s comrade, because that is what they will see you as. Aside from that, it also makes this already rape cultural society see rape/other violent crimes as even less of an issue than it is.

The guy was completely inappropriate here in how he handled this audience member, in both ways the event was recalled. He actually talks/jokes about rape so much that it makes me question what exactly he’s trying to hide … usually when people constantly go on and on or joke about one certain thing constantly, it’s a big indicator that they have some type of personal attachment to the subject – I think either he’s been raped or is a rapist himself. I wouldn’t be surprised about either one.
lisa

I’ve been raped and I am not offended by rape jokes. It’s a comedy show! If you can’t handle it DON’T go!
- Bailey
  
  Thats your own experience, b*tch.
  It doesn’t make you stronger or better than any other rape victims.
  Just because you don’t get offended by rape “jokes”, doesn’t validate Daniel Tosh singling out another woman in his audience who paid to see his show.
UJane

I find it ironic that people who have almost zero chance of being raped are falling all over themselves to defend the right to make fun of people who have a 20% chance of being raped. Here’s a woman’s perspective, if you’re man enough to exit your echo chamber for 10 minutes to read it: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168856/anatomy-successful-rape-joke
Kari

Why get offended at a comedy show? Like someone said before me, if you don’t like it, leave. He didn’t single her out until she heckled him.

I think Tosh is funny.
Lance

Just because it came from DT’s mouth doesn’t mean it wasn’t threatening or scary. Just because he’s a comedian doesn’t mean that everything he says is a “joke.”
Del

Here’s an interesting perspective: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168856/anatomy-successful-rape-joke
brittany

I mean… That’s Daniel Tosh for you. I don’t see why you’d go to a tosh show if you didn’t wanna hear rape jokes because he pretty much jokes about stuff like that all the time.
Basically

He shouldn’t apologize, while his comedy is edgy and extreme that’s who he is, she should have known that when she bought the ticket and by heckling him she invited him to tease her. He’s not serious when he makes those jokes its obvious. Besides that’s his humor style if she didnt like it she shouldnt have gone to the show. She could stay home and nurse the 50 cats I’m sure she owns. But really that’s his style and if she didn’t like it she should have kept her mouth shut and left.
Bri

Like I said, if you’re going to complain about the rape jokes, you better complain about the rest. You can’t sit there and laugh at the gay jokes, black jokes, poverty jokes, white jokes, etc. and then get offended by the rape jokes. What would that say about you?

No one is making you watch or listen to it. Don’t like it, don’t watch it, problem solved. There are plenty of people who do like it, myself included.