Leslie Jones: "Stop being offended" by comedians
Leslie Jones says targeting comedians for their inappropriate comments is "just so dumb." The "Saturday Night Live" star appeared on "The View" on Monday to complain about recent incidents of comedians' remarks coming back to haunt them. Though Jones did not specifically address the recent controversies surrounding Roseanne Barr, James Gunn or Dan Harmon over tasteless jokes, she did say the trend was "so stupid."
Co-host Joy Behar asked Jones about her reaction to a recent New York Times article about the backlash against comedians' past jokes.
"It's just so dumb," she said. "You know how long Ive been doing comedy? I've been doing comedy since 1986. If y'all go back, you'll see so much unappropriate [sic] stuff. You can't hold me accountable for what I did in 1987! I mean, I wasn't smart!"
Jones continued, "Social media -- I'm so happy social media wasn't around in my 20s. I would be the comeback kid. Y'all would be sitting here going, 'Oh, she's so respectable now!'"
Jones addressed fans who decry comedians for making vulgar jokes: "Stop holding comedians to this standard. Stop doing it. Our job is to make the ugliest stuff funny. That's our job. That's our job. We are court jesters. We are clowns. That's what we do. We come out and make this terrible situation laughable, unless you want to cry for the rest of your life."
She continued, "The best way to conquer pain is laughter! It's the best way ... Laughter is a release that you are now cutting off!"
Earlier this month, James Gunn was dropped from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" over a string of years-old tweets that joked about pedophilia and rape. On Monday, Chris Pratt and his fellow "Guardians of the Galaxy" castmates penned an open letter in support of Gunn. In the letter signed by Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and five other main stars of the franchise, the cast said it fully supports the director and the character he showed both on the set of the first two movies and in the wake of his firing.