Comedy Central Roasts have given audiences the most hilariously cringe-worthy insults and barbs that the human mind can formulate. (And that's not counting what gets left out.) When conservative political pundit Ann Coulter's name came up on the guest list for Rob Lowe's roast, we knew that she was going to get annihilated, but it seemed like a great opportunity for her to fire shots back. Unfortunately, her time at the mic was uncomfortable at best and a massive failure at worst, and while she is blaming show producers for making her look bad, those involved with the show say she's to blame. But what's the real story?
Anyone watching the Roast on Monday night saw Ann Coulter bomb in front of the crowd, something that isn't too surprising, given the staunchly liberal nature of things. And it's possible it would have all ended there, except Coulter gave an interview with TMZ where she claimed her segment was made to look less enjoyable in post-production.
I don't know how they edited it, but I know I got laughs when I was there. . . . They didn't seem to be wanting to do me any favors, and you can do a lot in film editing. But yeah, I wish they'd just run the whole Roast straight without their editing.
One can understand where she's coming from on that, since everyone in the room took a verbal dump on her, so she has to come out of it with something resembling dignity. And if she felt she was wronged by the show's editing department for the laughs that were or weren't heard. But her story obviously isn't the only one out there.On Comedy Central's side of things, the tale is one of a contrasting nature. According to TheWrap - which, coincidentally, had journalists present during the Roast's taping that also claim Ann Coulter's jokes weren't winners - sources close to the production had this to say about Coulter's laugh-squashing claims.
Not true at all. It was the exact opposite. We actually tried to help in the edit and in the mix. When it wasn't filled with boos aimed at her, you could hear a pin drop in the room.
Now, this does sound like the more likely scenario, since Comedy Central editors probably don't have grand political agendas when it comes to one of the network's most highly-rated programs. If we walk down Conspiracy Alley, we can make the assumptions that they made her look bad specifically so she would call them out and then the back and forth could extend the Roast's initial shelf life. But that probably isn't the case. (Or is it?)
Ann Coulter was quite up front with TMZ about having written her own jokes with some friends, rather than taking on the pre-written material by the special's writers, calling it too "blue." Comedian Mike Lawrence was part of a Facebook Live interview following the Roast and he said the writing staff wrote her a bunch of jokes, but that she turned down all of them. Some of those lines were listed in the video, and it was definitely clear why she chose not to go with some of them, but not everything was as ribald as David Spade making a joke about Pete Davidson's dad or everyone railing Rob Lowe for his sexual debauchery.
Ann Coulter, who played the Vice President of the United States in Sharknado 3 lest we forget, probably won't be invited back to any future roasts on Comedy Central. Unless they want her to be the person getting roasted, though she probably wouldn't be too interested in that. So whose fault was it?
