There were a slew of people who couldn’t wait to come out and throw dirt of the name of Kobe Bryant after his tragic passing, but nobody did it quite like Ari Shaffir.
The little known comedian took to social media and stated, “Kobe Bryant died 23 years too late today,” later adding how he “got away with rape because all the Hollywood liberals who attack comedy enjoy rooting for the Lakers more than they dislike rape.”
“Big ups to the hero who forgot to gas up his chopper. I hate the Lakers. What a great day!” he continued.
To say he caught absolute hell is an understatement. He was dropped by his management company and a New York Comedy club was forced to cancel some shows due to threats reportedly related to Shaffir’s joke.
He has pretty much been in hiding until he finally came out to host the Punch Drunk Sports! video podcast on YouTube. He did so via Skype while his guests sat together in a studio.
Ari made sure to nor address the Kobe Bryant controversy one time throughout the episode.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
“Every time a beloved celebrity dies I post some horrible s— about them,” he wrote in the apology post he put out two days after Kobe died.. “I’ve been doing it for years now. I like destroying gods. And right when a famous person dies they’re at their most worshipped. So as a response to all the outpouring of sympathy on social media, I post something vile. it’s just a joke. I don’t really hate any of the people.”
Joe Rogan, who is a good friend of his, recently commented on his behavior, stating, “He needed to know that there are consequences for just saying ridiculous s— that you’re not supposed to say when people die.”
“It was so stupid, but it’s also what you said earlier, that you gotta keep ramping it up,” Rogan also said. “When you do outrageous things to get people to be like ‘Oh, look at Jimmy, he’s crazy,’ you get caught in a trap and you keep doing it more and more outrageous.”
