Trevor Noah doesn't apologize for crude joke about Aboriginal women

'The Daily Show' host Trevor Noah is under fire for some jokes he made about Aboriginal Australians in 2013. (Reuters)

Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” star Trevor Noah wouldn’t apologize for – but attempted to explain to Aboriginal radio hosts Friday -- a recently unearthed joke about the appearance of Aboriginal women that he made earlier in his career.

Noah made the controversial joke back in 2013 to a South African audience when he explained that “women of every race can be beautiful” before adding, “And I know some of you are sitting there now going, ''Oh Trevor, but I've never seen a beautiful Aborigine.”

Noah then joked that the word “yet” should be added to the comment, “Because you haven't seen all of them, right?” He added that it’s not always about looks.

“Maybe Aborigine women do special things, maybe they'll just like, jump on top of you,” he said before mimicking oral sex with the microphone.

Australians unsuccessfully called for Noah to cancel his current tour of the continent when the joke resurfaced. A YouTube clip of the routine remains online.

Noah appeared on an Australian radio station owned by the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association on Friday when “Wild Black Women” hosts Angelina Hurley and Chelsea Bond spoke with the comedian about the offensive bit and declared he had told them he wouldn’t apologize prior to the interview.

“I feel like ‘sorry’ has too much currency."

— Trevor Noah

“I feel like ‘sorry’ has too much currency,” Noah said. “Actions speak louder than words.”

The Brisbane Indigenous Media Association – known as BIMA – prides itself on “promoting the cultural and economic aspirations of Aboriginal” people in Australia. The hosts told Noah that his joked was “frowned upon” by many members of the community and invited the Comedy Central star to react to the backlash.

Noah asked, “As Aboriginal women in Australia… what part of the joke offended you?”

The female co-hosts agreed that the “logic that underpinned the joke” bothered them because white men have long joked about their entitlement to sexual violence with Aboriginal women and a common stereotype that Aboriginal women are not desirable or attractive remains prominent in Australia.

Noah explained that it was the first time he’s heard that side of the argument and said he’s learning that the context of the joke varies in different parts of the world. He said the context is often removed “because of expediency on the internet, headlines and clickbait.” Noah said the joke was inspired when he was offended by a South African newspaper headline that ranked racial attractiveness.

“I use humor to process things that are otherwise painful for me,” he said before saying that the joke is that people haven’t seen an attractive Aboriginal women “yet” because you can’t simply write off an entire race of people unless you have met them all.

Noah said he “didn’t know about the sexual connotation” with Aboriginal women in Australia prior to appearing on the program and the hosts quickly noted that white men have taken advantage of minorities for centuries.

“Coming from a black person’s point of view, I wasn’t making the joke from that perspective,” he said. “My intention was to try and create a world where I said, ‘All women are beautiful.’”

Noah said that he wouldn’t tell the joke the same way nowadays and he never told the joke in Australia because he met an Aboriginal woman who explained how hurtful the joke is to members of her community.

“That’s what’s powerful, learning these things as you move through the world,” he said. “The context in South Africa is not the same.”

Noah and the “Wild Black Women” went on to discuss a variety of issues that Aboriginal women face, and the “Daily Show” host said he learned a great deal from the conversation.