There are two hosts on TV today who would be fired if they said about other demographic groups and institutions what they say about Catholics and the Catholic Church: Bill Maher and Trevor Noah. It is Noah who recently commanded our interest.
On June 11, Noah went on an obscene rant about Catholics and the Catholic Church that was so bad that we cannot reproduce everything he said. He took aim at the Vatican document on gender ideology that was released recently, lying about its contents and then using it as a platform to attack.
He went on and on—the man is fixated on filth—so we won’t even attempt to cite most of what he said. “I mean we all know the Church thinks if you’re a girl,” he said, “you’re a girl forever, and if you’re a boy, they’re going to f*** you.” He then offered several “pedophile jokes” targeting homosexual priests. The crowd loved it.
Noah’s show appears on Comedy Central and the network is owned by Viacom. There are 22 top executives at Viacom, and on June 13 we hand-delivered each of them (Viacom’s headquarters is 10 blocks from our New York City office) a copy of Noah’s remarks about Catholicism from March 26, April 22, May 29, and June 11. Surely there are some executives who will agree that what Noah is saying cannot be justified. They need to sit him down or fire him.
Below is the memo that Bill Donohue sent to the top brass at Viacom.
To: Viacom Top Executives
From: Bill Donohue, President, Catholic League
Date: June 13, 2019
Re: Trevor Noah
“They’re going to try to f*** you.” [Note: Donohue did not use asterisks in his corrrespondence.] That’s what Trevor Noah told his audience on June 11. He was talking about what priests do to boys.
There is something really sick going on. Noah is on a tear, speaking about the pope, priests, and Catholic teachings in the most obscene way possible. If he said this about anyone else—imagine him making these kinds of vicious remarks about gays—he would be fired, and you know it. Yet no one does anything to rein him in, effectively giving him the green light to express his bigotry.
Enclosed are news releases detailing what Noah has been saying about Catholics and the Catholic Church this year. This is indefensible.
There are other actions we can take, and I will not hold back. But I thought I should at least apprise you of this matter now in the hope that we won’t have to pursue other options.
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
