The Daily Show with John Stewart aired its controversial segment on the Washington Redskins name Thursday night.

'Daily Show' Tackles Redskins Issue

Jon Stewart was met with backlash after it was reported that the Redskins fans who had agreed to appear on his show felt duped. While they wanted to defend the name and mascot of their beloved NFL franchise, they were unaware that they’d have to defend it to actual Native Americans on The Daily Show. As a result, Stewart offered an explanatory preamble before airing the segment, revealing that it had been edited per the participants’ request.

“We learned later that some of the individuals who participated in the piece, they didn’t enjoy the experience. It’s something that happens a lot less than you would think,” Stewart said. “But we take the complaint seriously. We generally don’t want people who participate in the show to have a bad experience.”

“If we find out that someone in a piece was intentionally misled or if their comments were intentionally misrepresented, we do not air that piece,” he continued. “We would not air that piece. So that being said, I hope you enjoy the following piece.”

After the preamble, the segment, featuring correspondent Jason Jones, started off with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder lauding the importance of the name. Jones then brought Snyder’s comments to a group of Native Americans. They collectively agreed that the Redskins name is offensive and should be changed.

“Do you know what it’s like to be a Native in this town?” asked Tara Houska, an associate at a local law firm. "To walk down the street every single day and be surrounded by that imagery and being told to get over it?”

In another room was a collection of four ardent Redskins loyalists who passionately reject the idea that their team’s name should be changed. In fact, to these Redskins fans, they truly take the name change personally. “If the Redskins name is changed and I have children one day what will I pass onto them?” wondered Virginia-based sales consultant Maurice Hawkins.

At the end of their conversations with Jones, the two groups were brought together, which apparently put off some of the Redskins fans – namely Kelli O’Dell, who ended up feeling threatened enough to file a police report. Though the audio for the conversation is muted in the segment, a clip is shown in which the two sides are interacting with one another.

“It turns out these fans weren’t comfortable having that conversation,” Jones said in narration. “In fact afterward they relayed to The Washington Post that they felt ambushed, in danger and defamed. And yes the conversion was heated at times but there was also handshakes and a even a ceremonial handkerchief.”