Comedian Daniel Tosh Apologizes For Offensive Joke

by UInterviewJuly 11, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

Controversial comedian Daniel Tosh apologized on Twitter to a female audience member who claimed she was the subject of a rape joke. As part of last Friday's stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory, Tosh told the audience that rape jokes are always funny. A female audience member disagreed, and that's when things got ugly.

"After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment," the anonymous woman explained on a friend's Tumblr page. "Then, he says, 'Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…' and I, completely stunned and finding it hard to process what was happening but knowing I needed to get out of there, immediately nudged my friend, who was also completely stunned, and we high-tailed it out of there," the woman added.

The Tosh.0 star issued an apology on Tuesday via Twitter, including a link to the woman's blog post. "All the out of context misquotes aside, I'd like to sincerely apologize," Tosh tweeted. "The point I was trying to make before I was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them," Tosh added, including the hashtag "#deadbabies."

Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada further revealed that the woman complained to a manager and was offered a full refund, but chose to take two complimentary tickets instead. Despite the offer, Masada stands behind Tosh's routine. "Comedians sometimes tell jokes and sometimes they can be off color. I think Daniel Tosh is one of the funniest comics alive. He is one of the most caring people I know. He had no intentions of hurting anyone," Masada told E! News. "I understand where she is coming from, but Daniel Tosh did not attack this young lady. I feel bad for her and I apologize to her. If you are a member of the audience and you start dishing out something to a comic and try to be funny, you better be able to take it."