Legendary comedian, and former ‘SNL’ cast member, Norm Macdonald is about to unleash his new Netflix talk show on the world, appropriately titled, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show.” On the show, the comedian will feature one celebrity per hour, in his own spin of the traditional late-night talk show. But in a new interview with THR, Macdonald reveals that there’s one really big reason why his show will stand out.
“I decided very early on there can be nothing topical. Ever since Jon Stewart, late-night hosts have all been forced to become political pundits, you know? Even down to Jimmy Fallon,” explains the comedian.
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And judging by the rest of the interview, this might be the best course of action. As you’ll see below, as he discusses #MeToo, Roseanne Barr, and Donald Trump, Macdonald is never going to be known as one of the most “woke” celebrities in Hollywood. But at least he’s honest.
“I’m happy the #MeToo movement has slowed down a little bit,” admits Macdonald. “It used to be, ‘One hundred women can’t be lying.’ And then it became, ‘One woman can’t lie.’ And that became, ‘I believe all women.’ And then you’re like, ‘What?’ Like, that Chris Hardwick guy I really thought got the blunt end of the stick there.”
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When mentioning that there have been recent cases of entertainers losing their careers over accusations, Macdonald was asked to elaborate on who those people are. He mentioned his friends Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr, who have both been subject to recent controversies and have been off the radar (except for C.K.’s one attempt at an ill-advised comeback).
Macdonald says that when Barr was going through her very public firing, he convinced Louis C.K. to contact her because they had similar falls from grace. He explains, “There are very few people that have gone through what they have, losing everything in a day. Of course, people will go, ‘What about the victims?’ But you know what? The victims didn’t have to go through that.”
The conversation also touched on President Donald Trump, whom Macdonald warned could be elected back in 2015. When asked if he thinks its as bad as he feared, now that Trump is in the White House, Macdonald said, “Not at all. I don’t know anything about the Constitution. But it seems that the framers of this republic figured out how to make it bulletproof to this type of interloper. I don’t know what [lasting damage] you could point to except, you know, the Supreme Court judge nomination, which is certainly not an anomaly: I mean, a right-wing guy is going to put in a right-wing guy.”
Of course, Macdonald was then pressed about the racial strife that seems to be in the public eye more, with protests in Charlottesville and police brutality cases. His reply seems to echo many people who believe that racism isn’t real anymore post-Barack Obama. He explains, “I live in L.A., where I’m always faced with the lunacy of the left. I didn’t know that the same lunacy existed on the right. So I never really bought into this notion that everybody is racist — because there was a black president, you know? But the Sacha Baron Cohen show has been a frightening eye-opener.”
For those interested in Norm Macdonald’s less-political thoughts, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” premieres on Netflix on September 14.
