The Comedy Industry Has a Big Alt-Right Problem | The New …

The credo of owning the libs reads a lot like the traditional comedians defense of his right to insult and offend.

When McInnes founded the Proud Boys in 2016,he used TGMS as a recruitment tool. In his monologue and call-insegments, he laid out the organizations principles and customs, chief amongwhich was its ideology of Western chauvinism: a belief in the superiority ofWestern civilization and the white people supposedly responsible for it. Whitemales are a big part of what made the West great, he told a caller withquestions about joining. The Black contingent [of the Proud Boys] is pro-whitemale, the same you would be if you were an expat living in Japanyoud bepro-Japanese and youd take your shoes off.

Despite his concerns that the openly Nazielements of the far right were bad for his brand, McInnes didnt hesitate toassociate with them. His guests were a whos who of the contemporary far right:Milo Yiannopoulos, Richard Spencer, Unite the Right rally organizer JasonKessler, Crying Nazi Christopher Cantwell, Mike Cernovich, Sal Cipolla, FaithGoldy, Roosh V, even former KKK leader David Duke.

The Gavin McInnes Show was more than the white power hour, however. In the years before andduring his show on Compound Media, McInnes tried his hand at live comedy,performing in New York City venues like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theaterand The Creek and The Cave. He recorded a podcast, Free Speech,at the club Stand Up NY; in 2016, McInnes said he was banned from a club calledThe Stand after he exposed himself onstage. (He later recalled the managertelling him, I have to turn my back on you now.) He used his platform onCompound Media to mingle with a revolving door of respected, even mainstreamcomics: people like Big Jay Oakerson, Tim Dillon, Justy Dodge, Mike Lawrence,Larry the Cable Guy, Joe Matarese, Tom Shillue, Dave Hill, Alonzo Bodden, LuisGomez, and Dave Smith, none of whom were deterred by McInness friendliness withwhite supremacists.

Some stopped by for a one-off appearance.Others were repeats, like Gomez and Smith, who hosted their own Compound Mediashow,Legion of Skanks, with Oakerson. Gomez laid out McInness influencequite explicitly in 2016. The reason I love Gavin is because he has said n----rand faggot so much that thats not even a big deal, he said. When you come towatch the Legion of Skanks show, you should be hearing racist, sexist,offensive shit. If youre upset about that, dont watch the show.

Read the original post:

The Comedy Industry Has a Big Alt-Right Problem | The New ...