Barry Bonds is being considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A lot of people are now asking the question,
should you be in the Hall of Fame
if you were busted taking performance-enhancing drugs?
Yeah. It's a deep question.
You know what I think people should be discussing
less than the Basketball Hall of-- Baseball Hall of Fame?
People should be talking about the Hall of Shame
for every sport.
'Cause people forget that a ton of athletes
take all of these performance-enhancing drugs
and they don't do shit afterwards.
Those are the people we should be going after.
You took drugs and no highlights?
You're out here in these streets, you're just, like--
you're injecting yourself and nothing?
Striking out, walking off--
nothing.
Those are the people we should be going after in this sport.
Out here spoiling-- Imagine how much time of our lives
has been wasted by athletes who dope and did nothing.
Those are the people that the sporting federations
should go after. If you're gonna take steroids
and hit home runs, I'm-I'm for you.
'Cause you did it for my entertainment.
I like watching home runs.
You're gonna take steroids and then miss the ball.
I could have missed the ball with no steroids.
Now you just spoiled the sport for no reason.
-♪ ♪ -ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square,
in New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show.
Tonight, Biden drops the mic,
music's hottest beef
and W. Kamau Bell.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey! What's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
And joining me for today's headlines is Michael Kosta!
What's going on, Michael? How you doing?
I'm okay. You know, it's kind of a...
(stammers) January.
-Yeah, it's dark out. -Huh.
It's cold.
You know, I just got my holiday credit card bills.
You know, it's just kind of a down time.
I was thinking maybe it would be nice
if-- for you and for the viewers if I started the show
with a-- with a fun, lighthearted fact.
Oh, and that was it?
Yeah. I mean, wouldn't that be...
I don't have one, but wouldn't that be nice?
It would be good-- It would be a good way to start things.
-Yeah, yeah. I think you-you took... -Yeah.
'Cause now I got depressed thinking about your bills
-and the darkness and the... -Yeah.
It would have been c-- It would be great
if you started with something lighthearted.
Going forward, that's what we'll do.
-My man. -Yeah.
I'm glad you think of these things.
(chuckles) All right,
let's jump right into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
We kick things off with Joe Byron,
the president who puts the hip in "hip replacement."
Like most presidents,
Biden has a complicated relationship with the media.
Which I get. You know?
They nitpick everything he says.
They challenge all of his decisions.
And they even get their own room in his house,
which is insane.
Nobody else has to set aside a guest room for their haters.
Well, yesterday,
Biden's true feelings about at least one member of the press
slipped out.
NEWSWOMAN: On Monday, when a Fox News reporter
asked him a question about inflation,
Mr. Biden fired off an insult.
-It's a great asset. -WOMAN: Thank you.
More inflation.
What a stupid son of a bitch.
NEWSMAN: Doocy says President Biden later called him
to clear the air and to say his comments were not personal.
Within about an hour of that exchange,
he called my cell phone, and, uh, he said,
"It's nothing personal, pal."
And we went back and forth, and we were talking
about, uh, just kind of moving... moving forward,
and I made sure to tell him that I'm always going to try
to ask something different
than what everybody else is asking.
And, uh, he said, "You've got to."
And that's a quote from the president,
so I'll keep doing it.
You see? This is what happens
when you've been on Zoom calls for two years.
You forget that real life doesn't have a mute button.
Son of a bitch.
Was that out loud? Sorry.
Now a lot of people are asking if Biden even knew
that the microphone was on.
But guys, please, come on.
All right, he's sitting there talking into a giant microphone,
so there's at least a 50-50 chance he knew it was there.
And a lot of people online are dunking on the reporter, saying
that he deserved this because he's just some Fox News guy
asking a dumb question, and they're right, you know?
"Do you think inflation is a political liability?"
is a very stupid question.
I mean, what's Biden supposed to say?
"No, I think people like spending more money
to buy the same shit."
I mean, if you get to ask the president a question,
you should ask him real questions like,
"Why can't the CDC get its messaging straight on COVID?"
Or "Can you ask your dog to stop chewing my arm?"
And because of this moment,
there are many people who are saying
that this shows that Biden and Trump treat the press
with the same level of animosity.
And I'm sorry, guys, no, I can't accept that.
I cannot believe
that people would even say something so disrespectful
about my man Donald "Jujitsu" Trump.
First of all, he wouldn't mumble that into a hot mic.
No, he would scream that shit into your face.
He'd be like, "Get that son of a bitch out of here!
"So rude! So rude!
My crimes are my business."
Biden dropped one offhanded diss on a reporter. He's no legend.
Attacking the press was Donald Trump's whole thing.
You remember that guy?
Shit, you can't compare these two.
It's like comparing Steph Curry to a random guy
who makes one half-court shot during halftime.
Show some respect!
Don't compare him to Trump.
-Can you imagine? -Yeah, I know, but you know,
-you got to know about the hot mics, right? -Yeah.
You got to know. Let's...
When I'm on the show here, you know, I know
that if I want to talk some shit,
I got to cover up my mic, and our audio guy-- he put...
For me, he puts it on my... on my wrist,
so I can cover it up, and I can say to you,
"Yo, our audio guy sucks." You know that, right?
He's one of the worst audio guys I've ever met in show biz.
I'm embarrassed,
but then once you pull it off,
you know what I'm saying?
He could, he couldn't hear anything, right?
Yo, my boy sucks, right? (laughs)
He's-- He's a great dude.
See what I'm saying?
-The m-- Don't worry. -No?
-Yeah. -NOAH: Yeah.
Yo, this shit works all the time.
He's a clown, you know what I'm saying?
Right.
You've got him, Kosta.
-That's what I'm saying, dude! -(laughing)
-Oh, boy. -Hey, hey, no one else heard that, so...
That's how I stay alive in this biz, dude.
And you've got a long career ahead of you.
All right. (chuckles)
Let's move on to the Winter Olympics.
You know, it's that time of the year
where we all sit on our couches and critique athletes
doing sports we just learned exited.
We are now a weeks away from seeing
our favorite athletes sliding down an icy track
headfirst,
and also feet first,
and also crammed inside a giant dildo.
But it seems like the main event of these Olympics
will be fending off COVID,
and right now China is doing everything it can
to win the gold.
With the Winter Games less than two weeks away,
cities across China are scrambling
to contain COVID outbreaks.
And officials in Beijing now urging local districts
to stay in what they call, "full emergency mode."
Authorities are tracking down anyone in the city who's
bought medicine in recent weeks that could be used
to treat fever or other symptoms--
even something as simple as ibuprofen--
and sending text messages
ordering them to get COVID tests.
Entire buildings are being locked down,
sometimes without warning to the people inside.
Yo, China does not play games.
I mean, they-they will in two weeks, but not now.
Can you imagine that?
Can you imagine your building being locked down
without any warning?
No warning. Nothing.
Especially just after you've broken up with someone?
"Well, guess what, Sheila, we're through!
"And by the way, I slept with your sister.
Yeah!" (laughs)
(imitates lock rattling)
"Look, we all said a lot of things back there
"about sleeping with your sister.
You know? Shit."
But this is... this is way too much oppression
for the Winter Olympics. Can we agree on that?
I mean, Summer Olympics, sure, oppress all you want.
But you can't be locking people in their apartments
for sports like curling.
Even the curling athletes are like,
"Guys, guys, we're just sweeping ice.
Chill. Chill."
I don't know about you, but the story gave me perspective,
'cause Americans complain so much
when a restaurant asks them to wear a mask,
but then China will shut down your entire block
because somebody bought Advil.
And I'll tell you now, nobody in Beijing
is sitting inside their house like,
"Damn, this is just like communist New York."
Because this is what real authoritarian control
looks like: a government tracking
your ibuprofen purchases.
That's not for the government to know.
That's between you and your pharmacy
and your credit card company
and the Google ads after you type in "head hurt why."
Not the government.
And by the way, if you're wondering
how China can track every single person
who has bought ibuprofen, um, it's actually not that hard.
They just follow the CVS receipt to their front door.
"This you?"
Yeah, I-I feel like we just had the Olympics.
I just didn't watch an Olympics,
and now you're asking me to not watch another Olympics?
-Right? -It shouldn't go summer, winter, summer.
I think we should just...
What are seasons, man? It's fluid.
I think we should combine the Winter and Summer Olympics.
Underwater bobsled, you know?
Uh, rhythmic gymnastic archery.
Uh, figure skating basketball.
You know? That would be... I would watch that.
-The biathlon where you skate and shoot the targets? -Yeah.
I heard for this one in China, you don't shoot targets.
You just shoot people who tested positive for COVID.
I can't confirm that, but that's what I heard.
I'm gonna call the Olympic Committee,
-tell them about you. -Call the Olympic Committee.
-I know you call them a lot, so call. -I-I text normally,
-but this time, I'm calling. -Yeah.
All right, finally, let's get into some education news.
Every American student knows about the SAT. Right?
It's the only reason you know what "supercilious" means.
It means "very cilious."
Uh, for years now,
many experts have been saying
that the SAT isn't actually very useful.
Yeah, that it doesn't predict
how well students will do in college,
it's biased against people of color,
and rich kids can just hire expensive tutors
to take the test for them.
But now the company that makes the test is saying, no,
don't throw it out altogether-- maybe it just needs an upgrade.
The SAT is going digital starting next year.
Today, the College Board is announcing several changes
for the entrance exam taken by millions of high school students
each year.
They'll be answering questions on a digital device
for two hours instead of the current three-hour paper test.
But students still do have to go to a school
or testing center-- the new test cannot be taken at home.
Wow. This is so convenient.
Soon, high school kids are gonna be able
to take the SATs on the same device they use
to browse TikTok, chat with their friends,
block messages from Matt Gaetz.
It's amazing.
And I know this idea has its haters.
I know there's critics who are like:
Where is this gonna end?!
They made the SAT shorter. They've put it online.
Pretty soon it'll just be a BuzzFeed quiz
called "Tell Us Your Favorite Ninja Turtle
and We'll Tell You if You're Smart Enough for Yale."
This guy should host a show. I like him.
But you know what, they actually might have a point.
You know, because the SAT company, they say...
that what they're gonna do for the test when it's digital is,
they're gonna block other tabs from popping up on the screen--
you can't go anywhere, you can just do the test--
and the device will only have the test.
I don't know, man, have you tried to block pop-ups?
Like, you try to close that ad, and the next thing you know,
you're balls-deep in a rabbit hole of porn, sports gambling,
crypto, why George Bush did 9/11.
I mean, it's all the things you're gonna learn in college,
so I guess it works.
-But still. -More screen time for kids?
That's what you're telling me?
Look, the SAT is not relevant.
I mean, I didn't do great on my SAT,
and my vocabulary is still extremely well.
You know, I... I understand and use words wonderfully.
Or, as some others might call it, a "necrophiliac."
So it's not like it prepares kids to be successful.
If you want to prepare American kids to be successful,
teach them how to sing in a competition on TV
or run through an obstacle course.
(crew laughing)
That's...
-powerful. -You know what I mean?
-I-I feel you completely. -Yeah.
-I really do. -I know I didn't need to tell you,
but I didn't... I didn't crush the SAT.
-But I crushed... -I would have never known.
I know. And I, you know, I don't share that
with people that often, but to reach the heights that I'm at...
-Yeah. -you know, even though I sit beneath you,
pretty low, actually, uh, it's-it's remarkable,
'cause my SAT score was pretty bad.
And I guess that... that really has shown,
that the SAT, though sometimes shows,
-but in most cases, does not. -Right. Totally, totally.
'Cause I would have never known you did badly.
And I don't share that with a lot of people, so...
Yeah, and you know what, I don't think you should,
-'cause there's no point in bragging. -Right.
-You just keep that between us. -Yeah. You got it.
Oh, you wanna... You know what?
I didn't-- hold on--
I didn't do great on the SAT.
-My man. -Okay. (whistles) Thank you.
All right, don't go away, because when we come back,
we're gonna look at why everyone in the music industry
is fighting right now.
You don't want to miss it.
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
Like cocaine and harmonies,
beefs are an essential part of the music business.
Think about it.
Tupac versus Biggie.
The Dixie Chicks versus George Bush.
Keith Richards
versus mortality.
And with so many new beefs going on in the music world right now,
we figured it's about time to settle some of those scores
in our brand-new segment we call
Beefzuz.
♪ ♪
(air horn blowing)
All right, all right, everybody, this is our first beef!
Check this out! In one corner,
we got Neil Young, the Godfather of Grunge,
the man with a heart of gold,
the dude who owns your dad's CD shelf!
He's going up against Spotify,
the streaming service that's paid artists
thousands of cents over the years.
Can't wait to see this beef! Hit it!
Fans of Neil Young might soon have one less place
to listen to his music.
The rocker wants Spotify to remove his music
from its streaming services
due to the spread of COVID-19 misinformation
on Spotify's popular Joe Rogan podcast.
In a statement, he said,
"I'm doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information
"about vaccines,
"potentially causing death to those who believe
the disinformation being spread by them."
Now, he gave Spotify execs an ultimatum,
saying they can have Joe Rogan or Neil Young
but not both.
Damn.
Neil Young's got balls.
Because, yeah, he's popular,
but he's going up against the guy who's so popular
he's the reason kids now have horse dewormer
in their lunch boxes.
I mean, at the same time though,
Spotify should think about this.
Think about who's gonna leave a greater legacy.
You know, in 30 years,
what are people gonna be slow-dancing to
at their weddings,
a Neil Young ballad
or clips of Joe Rogan being wrong about the vaccine?
I don't think it's true that there's an increased risk
of myocarditis.
I don't know. It actually kind of works.
Now, look, to me, the outcome is clear.
Between Neil Young and Spotify, the winner of this beefzuz
is... guys who love to talk
about how everything sounds better on vinyl.
This is a perfect excuse for them to tell you,
"Why are you listening to Spotify anyway?
The bit rate totally ruins the dynamic range."
(air horn honking)
All right, next up,
the artist who soundtracked your quarantine,
the Empress of Evermore, Taylor Swift!
She's been dropping albums almost every week,
but according to the guy from the British band
that wasn't Oasis,
she's not putting in enough work!
Let's see the beef!
NEWSWOMAN: Looks like there is some bad blood
between Taylor Swift
and Blur front man Damon Albarn.
During an interview, a recent interview
with the Los Angeles Times, he claimed
Swift doesn't write her own songs.
He said writing music doesn't count
if you co-write,
and that co-writing is very different from writing.
Well, Taylor swiftly hit back.
Slamming the musician on Twitter, she tweeted,
"I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this.
"I write all of my songs, my own songs.
"Your hot take is completely false and so damaging.
"You don't have to like my songs,
"but it's really messed up to try
and discredit my writing."
Albarn later responded with an apology, saying,
he had a conversation about songwriting
that was reduced to clickbait.
He said he apologizes unreservedly
and unconditionally, and said the last thing
he would want to do is discredit Taylor Swift.
(laughing): Yo.
That was the fastest ending beef of all time.
'Cause one minute, the dude was like,
"Yo, Taylor ain't shit! She doesn't write shit.
"And also, I'm sorry, Taylor.
Please don't hurt me, please."
And I'm not surprised he realized how wrong he was.
I mean, guys, T. Swift is one of the most renowned lyricists
of our generation.
Meanwhile, Blur's most famous lyric is "Woo-hoo."
And by the way, by the way, people,
there's no shame in co-writing, right?
I'm not saying Taylor Swift does,
I'm just saying there's no shame
in cowriting.
Don't forget, Even God had cowriters.
All right?
There was Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, they all helped with the Bible.
And no one ever says God's fake.
I mean, except Ricky Gervais.
But he's, he's going to hell anyway, so,
doesn't count.
Anyway, it's no surprise
who the winner of the beefzuz
between Taylor Swift and Damon Albarn is.
It's Jake Gyllenhaal.
Yeah, you see, finally,
the heat is off.
Now he's in the corner like,
"Yeah, get that Blur guy!
And I keep the scarf!"
All right, next beef, y'all.
I'm talking about Cardi B,
the WAP-iest WAP in the game...!
And thanks to her beef with a Youtube blogger,
the "Bodak Yellow" singer is about to see a lot more green!
NEWSWOMAN: A legal victory for Cardi B.
Yesterday, a federal judge
awarded the "Bodak Yellow" singer more than
$1 million dollars after Cardi sued blogger Tasha K
for spreading lies.
TMZ reporting that the court found the youtuber
liable on three separate counts.
Now, an issue was Tasha K saying that Cardi B
once worked as a prostitute,
did drugs, and contracted sexually-transmitted infections.
Yes!
Sue them, Cardi!
Sue them!
People got to know.
Spreading lies about Cardi B is not okurr!
I'll show myself out.
Well, at the very least, at the very least,
if you're going to lie, be smart about it.
All right?
If you're going to talk shit about people,
don't print them as allegations.
That's libel.
What you should do is add a beat.
Now it's a diss track.
At the same time, though,
winning a $1 million judgement from a blogger isn't necessarily
the pay day that it sounds like.
'Cause, I mean, what are they gonna do?
Garnish her wages for the next 700 years?
But even though the courts declared cardi B
the winner of this beefzuz,
the actual winner is my friend, Pete.
Because, you see, he said all the same shit about Cardi B,
but nobody reads his blog, so...
he didn't get sued.
(air horn blares)
All right, y'all, it's time for our final beef.
We got the guitar god,
the dude responsible for some of the hottest licks
and the most racist rants of all time,
Eric Clapton!
He's throwing down once again
with his long-time rival, reality.
Singer Eric Clapton continuing his parade of anti-vax nonsense,
and this time, he says he believes
people vaccinated against coronavirus
are under mass hypnosis.
And he's very serious about this.
In an interview, Clapton, who is vaccinated,
argued that subliminal messaging hidden in advertising
is what's leading people to get vaccinated.
You know, the-the theory
of mass, um, hypnosis formation.
Once I kind of start to look for it,
I saw it everywhere.
And then I remembered seeing little things on YouTube
which were, like, subliminal advertising.
Huh.
So, he heard about the hypnosis,
and he didn't notice it,
and then he looked for it, and then he saw it everywhere.
So he got hypnotized?
Come on, people.
This conspiracy theory is so ridiculous.
Subliminal advertising?
It's not even a real thing.
(mouths)
I mean, this really drives home
that being an expert at one thing
does not necessarily make you an expert at everything.
Because Eric Clapton is an amazing guitar player.
I'm just not gonna listen to him about COVID
any more than I would buy an album from Dr. Fauci.
♪ I'm Dr. Fauci, and I'm here to say ♪
♪ COVID is messing up the U.S.A. ♪
This is almost not a beef
because reality doesn't care about your hot takes.
Right? Yeah. It's reality.
I mean, try having an argument with oncoming traffic,
and you let me know how that works out.
But still, we have to pick a winner,
and the winner of this Beefzuz
is Kanye West.
Yeah, you thought he was saying crazy shit,
but next to Eric Clapton, he's basically Barack Obama.
"Uh, Taylor, I'm-a let you finish,
"but, uh...
psych."
All right, that's enough of the beef.
I got the itis. Let's take a break.
When we come back, W. Kamau Bell will be here on the show
to talk about Bill Cosby. "Oh!"
Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight
is comedian and director W. Kamau Bell.
He's here to talk about his new docuseries
We Need to Talk About Cosby.
I think one of the reasons that it was difficult for people
to really...
accept that Cosby...
was what he ultimately... is
is that I don't think that people were willing
to countenance
that kind of exponent of hypocrisy.
It's just so different if...
someone trusts you
and you drug that person...
you know, that's... (stammers)
that's where I struggle.
Because here's a guy I love on one level,
but...
...you do that to someone,
you're a (bleep) monster.
W. Kamau Bell,
welcome to The Daily Show.
Yeah. May be my last time.
-Welcome-- What do you mean, your last time? -(laughs)
I just feel like I might be doing my last run
-in showbiz. -You know what I appreciate you, my friend?
Is the-the last time we spoke was,
like, in the heart of the pandemic.
-Yeah. -I was in my apartment and you were, I think,
-at home as well. And we're talking... -Yeah.
...and I said to you, I said, "You know, Kamau,
"every single time I see you,
"you're talking about racism. You're talking about racism.
-"You're always bringing the room down. -(laughing)
You're talking about racism."
And I see you felt that as a challenge.
You were like, "You know what, Trevor, I'm gonna show you.
-And, this time, we're gonna talk about Bill Cosby." -Yeah.
-Oh, you thought I brought the room down before. -(laughs)
The room is down, and they're down--
a lot of 'em are down on me right now, so...
Why would you choose to do this?
I remember you calling me and you said, "Hey, do you--
"I'm doing this documentary about Bill Cosby.
Would you like to be in it?"
-And I was like, "No. -Yeah.
There is no reason I would want to be part of this documentary."
But, no-- But, in all honesty, it's because, in--
and I know this is strange to say--
Bill Cosby just was not a cultural influence
-in my life. Yeah. -No, we talked about that.
-We talked about that. -And it was so weird to me,
because I'm glad I've watched this documentary you made,
because now I truly understand how big Bill Cosby actually was.
-So tell me why. Why would you... -First of all...
Why do you think we need to talk about Cosby?
I appreciate you talking about that phone call,
'cause I got a lot of no's from a lot of people
and I've been very clear about--
o-other than, obviously, Hannibal Buress--
I've not-- I haven't said who said no.
-So thank you for outing yourself here. -Oh, yeah.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Wait, so a lot of people said no?
-Of course. -Well, I only said no because I didn't--
like, I didn't think I could add to the conversation.
I mean, a lot of peo-- I mean, yes, I understand that.
But I'm saying, like, a lot of-- I mean, if you stacked
the-the yeses next to the no's...
-Wow. -Yeah. And it's-- And, you know--
And a lot of people had a lot of--
I mean, I had some really great conversations,
like the one I had with you, with people for a long time
that ended in no.
-Huh. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So when you were getting all the 'no's, did you think,
"Ooh, should I not be making this thing?"
-Yeah. -(laughing)
That was one of the many times I thought.
And right now, as I sit here, "Should I be making this thing?"
It's like, I can't explain it, other than I was comp...
-I'm always drawn to difficult conversations. -Yes, you are.
-That's kind of my thing. -Yeah.
Uh, and because Bill Cosby was such a huge cultural,
racial figure in my life, and so charted a path,
that I was like, "That's the path I should be on.
Do good work, be a comedian, but also do good in the world."
Like, a lot of Black folks,
specifically of my generation and older--
we were just gutted to find out about all these allegations.
-Right, right. -And then wrestled with,
"Do I believe them?" And I believe them.
And so, it's, like, and I...
That conversation's going in my head all the time.
Every time he makes an appearance,
-or sends out a... sends out a tweet, and... -Uh-huh.
Like, I'm always thinking about it and talking
to other people about it, and I couldn't...
I found myself in a position where I was talking
to the producers of this doc about it, and they were like...
They had never thought about it this way, and so,
this is where we ended up. But, yeah, it was...
I can only say I was compelled to do it
by something that was not rational.
I think you doing it has honestly opened up one
of the hardest conversations
that we need to be having in society,
not just specifically about Bill Cosby,
but about society as a whole.
Right? It feels like, especially when you watch this docuseries,
that there are almost, you know,
-three generations of people that are going to exist. -Yes.
-There are the people who came up with Cosby. -Mm-hmm.
-You know? You are sort of in the heart of that. -Yeah. Yeah.
-Like, Cosby... -'Cause I was, as a child, I was...
-Cosby was one of the influences. -He shaped you.
-Racing, yeah. -No, shape... Was part of shaping you, really.
-Mm-hmm. -You know? I mean, people were talking about this
just before we came out for this interview.
Like, my producers, and they were talking
about how, like, in white families, they were like,
"Cosbys. This is the biggest thing."
It wasn't about Black or white. It was Cosby.
-He was America's dad. -America's dad.
-Not Black America's dad. Yeah, yeah. -Yeah. Right.
And he had done so much, and, you know, we talk about how,
you know, you learn this in the documentary.
How Cosby changed stuntmen in America.
Like, Cosby was the one who said, "Hey,
"you can't have white guys in blackface doing a stunt.
-Just get Black stuntmen." -Yeah.
-He changed Hollywood forever. -Yeah, yeah.
There were no stunt peop-- Black stunt performers under contract
-until Bill Cosby. -So, you have this generation
of people who goes,
"Man, Bill Cosby changed my world in all the best ways."
Then you have the now generation who goes like,
-"Well, I just know Bill Cosby as 'the rapist guy'." -Uh-huh.
Right? And then you have the generation that goes, like,
-"Man, how do we, how do we live with the myth... -Yeah.
-...and the man?" -Yeah. And that, I...
Did you answer that question in the documentary for yourself?
I think the-the way we... is to deal with all of it.
I think the only way you can deal with it, like, I-- we--
Roland Martin makes the great point of, like,
you can't talk about Black... Black... you can't
talk about America in the 21st century without talking about
-Bill Cosby. -Wow.
-Wow. -He, I think he says Black America,
but you can't talk about America in the 21st century
without talking about Bill Cosby.
But you can't, also, ignore all the things that have come out
-in the 21st century. -Right.
And so, for me, this whole doc is about
creating a space to talk about all of it.
It's "We Need To Talk About Cosby,"
not, "Here's My Thoughts On Cosby."
And, as you can see from that clip,
There's-there's a lot, there's nuance,
there's anger, there's sorrow, there's...
A lot, a lot of it is based in conflict,
or roiling frustration, and you have to talk
about all of it, 'cause otherwise
we lose essential parts of American history.
For a lot of people, I'm hearing, like,
they've been waiting for this conversation
to happen in some format.
And the other problem in America we have, the, like,
-"It's not time now, it's not time now." -Yes. Correct.
Any time there's any major conversation,
it just felt like-- When I started, he was in prison.
I felt like, "It's time," and then he got out.
-He got out on the last day of filming. -Yeah.
I had two questions.
One, how did you feel about that?
And two, did you ever reach out to him to be
a part of the documentary?
Uh, so, he got out on the last day of filming,
it was one of the most surreal days of my life
up until tomorrow when he releases his statement
about the doc. Uh, the surreal-- the surreality will continue.
Um, you know, I thought maybe the project
goes away, and also, "Yay! Maybe the project goes away!"
You know? Because it was just so hard to make.
I didn't reach out to him,
because I was always clear that, one,
it's a conversation about him.
-It's not, it's not about a true crime documentary. -Oh, yeah.
-It's not about finding out what this person thinks. -Got it.
It's a conversation about the legacy, and the work,
and also the allegations-- that I believe, as I said--
and it just felt like I had really...
We had worked hard as a team to get, to get the st--
-To earn the survivors' trust. -Right.
-Right. Right. -Sit down and have these conversations
in a more wide-open way, and it...
That would have felt like a real betrayal of their trust
to put Bill Cosby into this.
One thing I appreciated in this documentary
is how you're having those conversations.
You know, it feels like...
You had to tackle it... tackle it in a nuanced way.
You didn't just go like, "So, what happened?"
It seemed like there was more to the conversation.
What do you think we missed
in some of the ways we were trying to have conversations
in and around Cosby
and in many of his survivors who came out?
It was really important for me
and the filmmakers and the other producers
to go, "Let's show who these people were.
"Let's bring them in the doc
"when they're just commenting on the time and the era,
"and if they have good memories of Bill Cosby,
let's let them bring them in to talk about that."
Because then the thing happens, like,
maybe some woman is telling me about how Playboy worked
and who Hugh Hefner was-- another man who's in this era--
and you go, "Oh, she's an expert 'cause she was
in Playboy magazine and she was a Playmate."
And then you go, "Oh, wait, she's a survivor."
So, you get to meet her as a human being
who's an expert in her life, in her field, and you don't...
And you're not bringing all that,
"This survivor's about to tell me a story, too."
Right, right. Is it possible
to separate the artist from the art?
-Do you think it is possible? -I mean, I would say this.
We separate the art from the artist all the time.
-Hmm. -There are so many ways.
It could be musicians, could be actors. We...
They don't have to be criminals, but you go...
Like, right now, you're talking about Eric Clapton,
-you know what I mean? (laughs) -(laughs)
There are a lot of people who don't agree
with any of his vaccine stances
but-but maybe felt touched
by the song "Tears in Heaven." You know what I mean?
Like, so, we do that all the time.
We just don't think about it until it becomes somebody
who's so seminal as Bill Cosby.
-Hmm. -Where if I separate...
If I go, "I can't watch this stuff anymore,"
and you go, "I can," then it becomes a fight
of you mad at me for...
'cause you think I don't understand
and 'cause you don't think I'm taking him seriously.
And, so, for me, I'm like, in this doc,
we can take the art seriously,
-but we have to talk about the other stuff. -Right.
Well, I'll tell you this, man. This documentary,
I can't imagine how hard and scary it was to make.
-It's still scary right now, Trevor. -Yeah, no.
-Yeah. -I-I appreciate that. But-but honestly,
I appreciate it just on a personal level
because I think it gives people an opportunity
to consume an extremely complicated story
and a complicated legacy
in one of the most nuanced ways possible, so thank you for that.
Thank you for putting yourself on the line.
-And just be clear, thank... -And I want you to know,
if your career ends, I will...
I will, like, claim that I never knew you.
-(laughs) -But I appreciate what you did.
Well, I... And I will respect that. I will respect that.
-This tape will be deleted. I understand. -No, man.
For real, man, congratulations, and thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Trevor.
NOAH: We Need to Talk About Cosby
premieres January 30th only on Showtime.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, this weekend was the 49th anniversary
of Roe v. Wade,
and while it is still law, in much of the country,
women's reproductive rights are being threatened.
But Planned Parenthood is on the ground.
They're helping deliver vital reproductive health care,
sex education and information to millions of people
not just in the United States but worldwide.
So, if you want to support them in their mission,
then you can donate at the link below.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there.
Get your vaccine, and remember:
you never know when there's a microphone recording you,
so just to be safe,
call everyone a stupid son of a bitch.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
I-I see murders
that you don't get to see the way I see them.