[protected-iframe id=”5f8240ee18e334e898b051ef8fe08afb-60970621-76566046″ info=”https://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:arc:video:comedycentral.com:02317d77-ead2-4344-a4cc-3da4cff1cf0c” width=”650″ height=”365″ frameborder=”0″]
Following Monday’s surprising news that Comedy Central was canceling The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore this week, you’d think the host would have a few choice things to say about the network. You’d be right, as Wilmore — a Daily Show alum and executive producer along with former boss Jon Stewart — had quite a lot to say about the cancellation. Yet the comedian took it all in stride and, instead of using Monday’s taping as a literal soapbox, delivered several subtle punches reminiscent of Conan O’Brien’s final week on The Tonight Show.
“When we started the show, we wanted to have a conversation of some very tough subjects. We’ve had a lot of fun doing just that. Really, our show was at its best when the news was at its worst. I’m just so proud we were able to take on real issues and, I don’t know, hopefully say something powerful and make people laugh on some very, very dark days,” Wilmore told the cheering audience. “My only regret is that we won’t be around to cover this truly insane election season.”
“On the plus side, our show going off the air has to mean only one thing,” Wilmore added. “Racism is solved. We did it!”
As “proof” of the network’s good deed, the Nightly Show host offered his audience an alleged photo from Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in 2014. Instead of yet another protest or riot reminiscent of the city’s darker days, the photoshop presented an African-American man and a white police officer sitting together atop a unicorn.
This will be a week to watch for Wilmore, The Nightly Show and Comedy Central. Too bad nobody was watching before.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
