The comments made by Ari Shaffir in the wake of Kobe Bryant‘s deaths have been under fire ever since he uploaded the video in which he made fun of the situation. Shaffir brought up Bryant’s rape allegations and inferred that he had it coming to him.
Many in the industry have stepped up and called out Shaffir following his remarks. Joe Rogan was among those as he called called his commentary “over-the-line.” Artie Lange is the latest to give his thoughts on the situation, and he was pretty embarrassed for Shaffir about the whole ordeal.
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“I’ve had my moments on Twitter and I’ve said some stuff out load that has been hard to defend,” Lange said. “That was rough. Kobe Bryant had some issues, he was acquitted, but his beautiful daughter was killed and seven other people… that was bad and it was so soon.”
He added, “I have no problem with Ari but that was a wrong move.”
In regards to Rogan’s comments, he was not a fan of Shaffir’s approach. It’s known that Shaffir is quick to make a joke whenever a celebrity dies, but his comments on Bryant struck a chord with many as it was too quick and involved a tragedy that included children, including Bryant’s daughter Gianna.
“He needed to know that there are consequences for just saying ridiculous s— that you’re not supposed to say when people die,” Rogan said.
“It was so stupid, but it’s also what you said earlier, that you gotta keep ramping it up,” Rogan said. “When you do outrageous things to get people to be like ‘Oh, look at Jimmy, he’s crazy,’ you get caught in a trap and you keep doing it more and more outrageous.”
In regards to Shaffir’s remarks, he did end up issuing an apology on an Instagram post, but his comments were too intentional that many aren’t willing to forgive him.
“Kobe Bryant died 23 years too late today,” the video of Shaffir’s joke on Bryant began. “He got away with rape because all the Hollywood liberals who attack comedy enjoy rooting for the Lakers more than they dislike rape. Big ups to the hero who forgot to gas up his chopper. I hate the Lakers. What a great day!”
Shaffir has faced a ton of backlash, including the New York Comedy Club having to cancel some of its upcoming shows where he regularly performs. He also reportedly just appeared at a set but used a fake name due to the public’s opinions towards him.
