Tina Fey On the Importance of Free Speech Following Paris Terrorist Attack
Tina Fey is probably one of the last people you’d think would weigh in on the deadly terrorist attack in Paris this morning on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. But she was asked to weigh in during an interview at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, California, today. She took the opportunity to stress the importance of free speech and a comedian’s right to satirize.
Obviously, that news is terrible and tragic and upsetting. … You look at that and you look at the controversy surrounding The Interview, it makes you think about how important free speech is and how it absolutely must be defended. [We] cannot back down on free speech in any way. We all have to stand firm on the issue of free speech.
I think the closest we ever got to that was doing Weekend Update [on Saturday Night Live], which was a long time ago. … But even that was a different era, because in a social media era where you make a joke on American TV and it can go worldwide, it’s a different environment.
But we’re Americans. … and even if it’s dumb jokes in The Interview, we have the right to make them.
(h/t Buzzfeed)