Daniel Tosh apologizes on Twitter for rape joke at comedy club

Daniel Tosh hosting "Tosh.0"

/ Comedy Central

(CBS News) Comedian Daniel Tosh, who is known for his provocative jokes, has apologized after an audience member accused him of making her the subject of a rape joke at a recent stand-up show in Los Angeles.

The "Tosh.0" star tweeted his apology along with a link to a blogger's account of his stand-up performance at the Laugh Factory on Friday night.

all the out of context misquotes aside, i'd like to sincerely apologize j.mp/PJ8bNs

-- daniel tosh (@danieltosh) July 10, 2012

According to her blog post, the woman said she was offended by a rape joke Tosh told and called out from the audience, " "Actually, rape jokes are never funny!"

After that, she wrote, the comedian indicated her and said, " Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now?'"

After his apology tweet, Tosh used the social networking site to try and make light of the situation.

the point i was making before i was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them. #deadbabies

-- daniel tosh (@danieltosh) July 10, 2012

on a lighter note tonight's new episode of tosh.0 will be featuring clowns... insane ones. enjoy, juggalos & juggalettes.

-- daniel tosh (@danieltosh) July 10, 2012

[dannybrowningcomedian]

The comedy club drama needs to stop. I'm a professional comedian and here's my advice to all comedy club audiences. Please read this & remember to LAUGH today.
http://dannybrowning.biz/blogs/2012/07/18/my-advice-to-comedy-club-audiences/

[wefawef]

What people need to realize here is that this woman was heckling, and hecklers will get demolished. So what if she was offended? Don't interrupt a comedian when he's doing his job. If you want to stand up for something, go do it on your own time--but if you interrupt a comedian while he's working, he will use everything he can against you.

[audemus]

Obviously and of course, rape is wrong....but this is not 1950, and Tosh was not appearing on The Ed Sullivan show. Comedians these days are exercising that 'no sacred cows allowed' thing....if you want to go to a comedy club in this day and age, leaving your thin skin at home is probably good advice.

[domynoe]

Rape is never funny and she had every right to be offended and comment. And no one should ever stand up for or make light of rape jokes. Period.

[ReggieNoble215]

You don't get to decide that for me or anyone else but yourself. Not to mention that you're totally wrong, in the right context ANYTHING can be funny.

[SuperDeadheadFred]

Menstrual jokes are never funny. Period.

[stephenbudzash]

I can't believe this woman. She goes to a comedy club not knowing who is going to be performing, then when she doesn't agree with what the comedian is saying she interrupts and bothers the people who do enjoy the material. What did she think Tosh was going to do? As soon as she opened her mouth to interrupt the show, she made herself part of the show and at that moment gave up all her rights to be mad about what was said to her. If Tosh just picked her out and made those comments it would be wrong, but she heckled. If she didn't like what he was saying she should have left, not ruin a show for everyone else because she feels that like she is that important to the world. I'm disappointed in Tosh for apologizing. People feel too entitled to things, especially in this case where she was in the wrong.

[Astrophil]

Wouldn't it be funny if you got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now?

[anetterose]

Did you not read what was said? He said "Wouldn't it be funny if she got raped by, like, 5 guys right now? Like right now?" There is a difference between making a rape joke and then sexually assaulting someone. A rape joke is not attacking an audience member and then finding humor in their horrendous experiences.

This isn't the first time that Daniel Tosh has make a rape joke. If you watched his Comedy Central special: Happy Thoughts, he depicts an event where his sister was raped because he messed with her pepper spray. While that joke is in bad taste and I personally did not find it funny, it's his to make. It was his own, personal experience.

The moment he brings in another woman's safety and puts her potential danger, it's wrong. What if a few drunken guys had been like, "Yeah, that is funny!" What if they had followed her out of the club? What if she had been raped by five guys? Like, right then?