Amy Schumer on Former Writer Saga: “I Would Love to Refocus on the Real Problem, Which Is About Rape”

August 18, 2016 4:09pm PT by Jackie Strause

The 'Inside Amy Schumer' comedian addressed Kurt Metzger and his trouble-making comments in an interview with Charlie Rose.‘Charlie Rose’  Screengrab/Charlie Rose

The ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ comedian addressed Kurt Metzger and his trouble-making comments in an interview with Charlie Rose.

Amy Schumer wants to shift focus from the controversy surrounding one of her Inside Amy Schumer writers to the topic at the center of the social media firestorm: Rape.

“I would love to refocus the energy and the attention on the real problem, which is about rape,” the comedian told host Charlie Rose while promoting her new book, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, on his show Thursday. “And what’s consensual and what’s not.”

The Trainwreck star revealed in the memoir that she lost her virginity without her consent. Now while making the rounds to promote the book, she’s getting hit with questions about Kurt Metzger, a staff writer on her Comedy Central show, over his recent social media rants mocking rape accusers.

On Wednesday, Schumer took to Twitter to say that she does not currently employ Metzger, “because we aren’t making the show anymore.” Her language raised questions about the future of her comedy series, which was renewed for a fifth season in January, forcing her to clarify that it is returning but not for “the foreseeable future.”

Speaking on Charlie Rose, Schumer again clarified what she meant: “Right now, there are no plans for the TV show to come back anytime in the near future, so nobody’s on my staff. There are no writers.”

Still, she can’t untangle herself from the situation.

“They want [Metzger’s] head, they want to burn him at the stake,” she says, referring collectively to social media. “I want them to not attach me to what he’s writing. He baits people, he’s the problem. No question.”

The firestorm around Metzger began when the comedian inserted himself into a conversation about an Upright Citizens Brigade performer named Andrew Glaser who was banned from the improv theatre after multiple women alleged that he had raped them. Metzger came to Glaser’s defense in a series of Facebook rants and Twitter posts that mocked sexual assault and rape accusers, and the situation snowballed from there

“One of the reasons he’s such a great writer and contributor to our television show is because his views are so different from that of mine and most of the other writers,” Schumer told Rose about Metzger, who has been a credited writer for all four seasons of her show. “We butt heads, we get in fights because he infuriates us.”

Still, she said they rely on Metzger for the “most out there” male perspective possible in a diverse writing room.

“Kurt’s my friend, I love him,” she continued. “I’m not on Facebook so I don’t read his crazy rants. He gets something from going after people, making them mad. That is not representative of me at all.”

On his podcast, Race Wars, Metzger offered a somewhat-apology, admitting that he got “inflamed” by the social media “mob,” but defended his reasoning during a nearly two-hour conversation about rape culture.

“I’ve asked him, ‘Can you just stop?'” Schumer told Rose. “Because it comes back to me. Because he writes for the show, it’s a bigger story. Because of our connection.” 

Much of Metzger’s ire is aimed at the fact that the UCB conducted an internal investigation and made their decision without going to the police, sparking criticism over his victim-shaming. (The UCB told THR they “have always had an open door policy and encourage anyone with a complaint or concern regarding sexual harassment to report it immediately to any of our Directors of Student Affairs, who are trained professionals. Any such complaints are always taken very seriously.”)

Schumer agreed with Rose that it’s uplifting how more and more people are coming forward in 2016 about attacks that happened years ago, and any criticism of that will only discourage others from continuing the trend.

“When a woman says they were assaulted, a lot of peoples’ first reaction is to say, ‘No you weren’t. What was the situation?’ They treat it like the Salem Witch Trials.”

Adding that it’s upsetting to hear that Metzger takes issue over a victim speaking out in a way that he doesn’t “feel is right,” she said, “We all need to be empowering each other.” Adding, “To focus your energy on online trolling — if I did that, I wouldn’t get anything done.”

She continued, “I was sexually assaulted and I encourage women to come out. I want men to hear what happened so there is no confusion, because people have different understandings of what sexual assault is, what rape is. So let’s all get on the same page so that it happens less.”

Watch the clip of Schumer on Charlie Rose below. The full interview airs Thursday night on PBS.

Inside Amy Schumer

Jackie Strause

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Lewis Black Rips Into Donald Trump, GOP on Larry Wilmore’s Second-to-Last ‘Nightly Show’

August 17, 2016 9:40pm PT by Jackie Strause

Talk turned to Trump when 'The Daily Show' correspondents reunited during the last week of Wilmore's late-night show. "The Republican party let itself be destroyed by him because they wanted, as the media did, eyeballs," said Black.‘The Nightly Show’  Comedy Central

Talk turned to Trump when ‘The Daily Show’ correspondents reunited during the last week of Wilmore’s late-night show. “The Republican party let itself be destroyed by him because they wanted, as the media did, eyeballs,” said Black.

Larry Wilmore invited an old friend to his second-to-last Nightly Show on Wednesday: Lewis Black.

Black and Wilmore were both past correspondents on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, with Black known for his “Back in Black” segments and Wilmore as the “Senior Black Correspondent.”

 “I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have on,” said Wilmore of Black.

The actor and comedian appeared in the half-hour late-night show’s final segment for a panel, along with Nightly Show contributors Ricky Velez and Rory Albanese. Though he was offered to partake from a bowl full of mini bottles of booze — a gift from fellow late-night host, Stephen Colbert — Black didn’t need any liquid courage to share his thoughts about the current political landscape.

When asked what he thinks about the election, Black laid into Trump and the Republican party with fanfare.

“At some point it has to stop,” he began. “We would be better off as a people if there’s Donald Trump as a duck, and you heard quacking, and Clinton as a chihuahua, and you heard barking (mimicking the animal sounds for both) — it’s senseless!”

Belaboring how the election news cycle has eaten up his summer months — “It’s not just summer for kids! Give me a new recipe for ribs, that’s what this time is about,” he said — he described the moment that he feels was the beginning of the end with Trump.

“The Republican party let itself be destroyed by him because they wanted, as the media did, eyeballs,” he said about the GOP presidential nominee. “We want as many people watching as possible, so we’re going to bring him in — that was the beginning of the end.”

He continued, “As soon as he said, ‘Mexicans…borders…pillaging…they’re eating all the avocados and there’s no shrimp dip!’ — as soon as he said that, any party with any moral compass whatsoever would say, ‘You can run, you just can’t run as a Republican.’ That was the moment in time people began to watch thinking, ‘Oh this’ll be great, this’ll be f—ing fun to watch.” 

After getting saucy off last night’s “basic-cable wine,” a gift from Full Frontal‘s Samantha Bee, Wilmore opened Wednesday’s show by declaring his intentions to be clear-minded.

“I was going to do the show sober,” he said, after the crowd was done chanting his name, “but then Colbert sent this.”

The Comedy Central host then showed a photo that he posted earlier on Instagram of himself surrounded by mini bottles of alcohol, a gift from The Late Show‘s Colbert, which he brought out for his show guests.

‘You gotta step it up Last Week Tonight — daddy needs more juice,” he added about John Oliver’s HBO series.

#Repost @ldub61 with @repostapp ・・・ Thanks @stepenathome and @colbertlateshow for all the tiny bottles of booze!

A photo posted by The Nightly Show (@thenightlyshow) on Aug 17, 2016 at 3:06pm PDT

Wilmore then launched into talking politics, race and a segment of Tampon Tuesdays surrounding Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui talking about her period during an interview at the Rio Olympics.

There was one person in particular, “something dear to my heart,” that Wilmore made sure to touch on: Bill Cosby. He also addressed the day’s headline news on former Fox News chief Roger Ailes and Trump.

Comedy Central announced the cancelation of The Nightly Show on Monday. The series, which has aired for two seasons, averages a night-of rating of 0.2 in the 18-49 demo.

On Monday, the host addressed his show’s cancelation by joking, “Our show going off the air has to mean one thing: Racism is solved.”

The last episode of Nightly Show will air tomorrow, Thursday, with Chris Hardwick’s game show @Midnight sliding into the 11:30 p.m. slot as a temporary replacement.

Larry Wilmore

Jackie Strause

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Director James Gunn Proves He Is a ‘Bachelor’ Superfan

August 16, 2016 8:31pm PT by Jackie Strause

While visiting 'After Paradise' — the aftershow for 'Bachelor In Paradise' — Gunn promised that fans will see a trailer for the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' sequel "soon."‘After Paradise’  Twitter/@theyearofelan

While visiting ‘After Paradise’ — the aftershow for ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ — Gunn promised that fans will see a trailer for the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ sequel “soon.”

James Gunn is an admitted Bachelor superfan, something he proved while visiting After Paradise on Tuesday night. 

On the weekly aftershow for the Bachelor summer spinoff series Bachelor In Paradise, the attendance of the Guardians of the Galaxy director quickly stuck out amid the show’s other guests, all alums of the ABC reality franchise. 

The hourlong live show, which follows the Tuesday-night airing of After Paradise (which airs Mondays and Tuesdays on ABC), is cohosted by former Bachelor Sean Lowe and After Paradise frequenter Michelle Collins, formerly of The View. The first two seasons were cohosted by franchise host Chris Harrison and Jenny Mollen. 

After Collins introduced Gunn as a fan of the show, the director shared his excitement over sitting next to twins Emily and Haley Ferguson and then wasted no time sharing his opinions about the rest of their dramatic cast. Though blunt, his extensive knowledge about the show’s players shone through in his somewhat spot-on analysis.

Of Ashley Iaconetti, the series’ infamous crier and self-proclaimed Kardashian lookalike, Gunn said she’s a “complete and total psycho.”

As for Jared Haibon, the object of “crazy” Ashley’s affection? “He’s a wuss” who loves to have someone with eyes like the “heart emoji following him around.”

Still, he said he felt bad for Ashley and called her wildly entertaining — a good save, considering the contestant joined him on the couch shortly after.

Another guest, beefy and often-shirtless Canadian Daniel Maguire, also became the butt of the group’s jokes. “He was created in a lab,” said Gunn.

And his opinions didn’t stop there.

Couple Izzie Goodkind and Vinny Ventiera are “boring” — “They’re no Ashley!” — Lace Morris is sweet but still a “trainwreck” and when it comes to Josh Murray, the ex-fiance to former Bachelorette Andi Dorfman? “I’ve been working in Hollywood for 20 years and I’m very good at judging a sociopath,” he said.

To the big-screen viewers desperately awaiting his Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Gunn promised a trailer “soon.”

The director recently screened a sizzle reel of the film, set to hit theaters May 5, 2017, at Comic-Con.

This is Gunn’s second appearance on After Paradise. The director, who is a friend to Bachelor producer Elan Gale, appeared during the show’s first season alongside Mollen’s husband Jason Biggs.

Jackie Strause

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