Colbert Does Not Need To Apologize for His Adam Jacobs Joke, But He Should Reflect
Greg Ehrhardt, OnStage Blog Editorial Staff
If you missed the big story this week, Stephen Colbert made a joke during his opening monologue on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ about the Proud Boys using a song from the musical ‘Aladdin’ “Proud Of Your Boy” as the basis for their group. Colbert, in the process, scoffed at the idea of the songs and performers from ‘Aladdin’ being masculine, while specifically showing footage of ‘Aladdin’ star Adam Jacobs. You can watch the clip for yourself below.
Let’s start off by saying that I was really annoyed by Stephen Colbert’s joke at the expense of Adam Jacobs for one basic reason; I don’t like anyone, for any reason, associating a Broadway actor with those cretins who call themselves the Proud Boys.
So when the clip came out, from Stephen Colbert no less, a proud liberal and advocate/fan of theatre and Broadway, it really made me stop and wonder what was he trying to do.
Then I stopped to digest the jokes and the context, and thought to myself “Oh man this was a mistake.”
Colbert should have known better, because we expect better from him.
Should the theatre community be outraged at this? Well, I can’t tell someone what their feelings should be, especially Jacobs, but looking at this as neutrally as possible, I would say disappointment is the more appropriate reaction instead of outrage.
Why? Colbert was making a joke: a joke at the expense of a group that deserves nothing but ridicule from every comedian and normal human being on planet earth.
We know what Colbert was trying to do. He was trying to humiliate the Proud Boys in the most entertaining way possible (honestly, the Proud Boys are so beneath dignity that they are probably impossible to humiliate, but that’s for another day).
We won’t deny the intent; we know Colbert is an ally of musical theatre causes. But intent is irrelevant in this scenario, because this was a scripted monologue that undoubtedly went through layers of review before making it to taping. And Colbert went through with it anyways, because (I’m guessing), he just wanted to dunk on the Proud Boys to applause.
I hope Colbert realizes that he set back the movement to detoxify masculinity, at least a little bit. The joke pretty explicitly implies that Jacobs is not masculine, and the songs by his character are not masculine. This is an attitude I expect from backward comedians like Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle, not Stephen Colbert.
That’s the aspect that REALLY rubs me the wrong way.
Stephen Colbert, of all people, gave legitimacy to a caveman argument about masculinity, and Broadway theatre, for that matter, an argument that we theatre fans have been fighting against for 20+ years.
I’ll be honest here; I’m still, in 2023, careful about who I reveal my Broadway fandom to at the workplace and socially around people I don’t know well. It is not that I fear any repercussions per se, but I know I’ll get some weird looks and judgment when I tell them I can sing every word of ‘1776’ by heart, and I might be treated differently as a result.
And look, I’m happy that’s the least of my problems. I know male performers who have been judged negatively simply because they play leads in musicals for community theatre in their spare time.
And Stephen Colbert, a progressive comedian, just gave those assumptions legitimacy.
If Bill Burr made this exact same joke, this wouldn’t be a blip on anyone’s radar, because we know he makes regressive jokes, punching down at groups that don’t deserve to be punched down at.
And you know what? That’s fine, because he has an audience that enjoys that humor, and this is America.
But this was Stephen Colbert, a guy who (let’s be honest) essentially runs a liberal therapy session masquerading as a late night talk show. He should know better, hell, I KNOW he knows better. And yet, he felt compelled to make this type of joke.
I know Colbert was trying to expose this fundamental hypocrisy. But in the end, he ends up certifying it, with the way he delivers the joke and dances to it.
Should he make a statement or apologize? Heck no. It’s comedy. His audience is broader than just theatre nerds. I don’t blame anyone for laughing at it, for Colbert is a gifted comedian.
But should he reflect and promise, even just to himself and his staff, to make it right going forward?
Heck yes.
This was a setback for theatre performers and theatre fans everywhere.
As is usual in these situations, at first I feel despondent feeling like every time we take a step forward, we take two steps back. But then I realize, it is 2023, we all have microphones, and the fact that we make our feelings heard on a national platform is the chance we all have to remedy the wrong. 30 years ago, that wasn’t the case, so ultimately, the only solution is to do what we’re doing; call out regressive speech with progressive speech. and let the chips fall where they may.