14 DAY TRIAL // The much anticipated Justin Bieber roast was taped last weekend and will air on March 30 on Comedy Central. Among the jokes made at the pop star’s expense were also some that targeted his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez and, for some reason, late actor Paul Walker, who was killed in 2013 in a one-vehicle crash.
The latter will be cut from the telecast, a spokesperson for Comedy Central tells The Hollywood Reporter, upon realization that they were in bad taste and did not translate well on camera.
“Roasts often push the limits of good taste”
Roasts often include very offensive material, some of which makes it in the telecast, while some doesn’t. The idea of not doing live Roasts probably has something to do with having some control over what makes it in the telecast, since producers have no way of knowing whether the roasters they invite on stage will offend or not, because they don’t know the material they have prepared for the evening.
The same happened at the Bieber Roast, when Jeff Ross and Pete Davidson delivered two Paul Walker jokes, eliciting grunts of disapproval from the audience.
Because many of the jokes made at Roasts usually get out in the printed press long before the actual show airs, fans at home found about them within hours after the taping and, we assume, they were none too happy about it.
You can find them below, at the end of the article.
The bottom line is that Comedy Central decided to ditch them because they were in bad taste and didn’t really serve to roast Bieber.
“Roasts often push the limits of good taste and we give the participants full rein to try things knowing we have the edit to shape the show,” the producers say in a statement. “Sometimes the line is discovered by crossing it. The Paul Walker references will not be in the telecast.”
Justin Bieber is growing up, and he hopes the Roast will convince you of that
Unlike most celebrities, Bieber actually asked to be roasted, willingly exposing himself to the ridicule of his industry peers. The move may be a bold and unexpected one, but it’s not entirely surprising if you know anything of his behavior this past year and a half or so.
To put it simply, Justin Bieber has been acting like a spoiled brat for all this time, which got him in trouble with the law and earned him scathing coverage in the media and the blogosphere.
His asking to be roasted is meant to show that he’s grown up and moved past this stage in his life, having reached a point where he can make fun of himself along with everybody else. It’s meant to herald a new stage in his career and clean up his image, by making him seem like an adult and not just a spoiled brat no one but his legions of teen fans takes seriously.