Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, marchers -- including world leaders -- took to the streets of Paris waving pencils in support of the right to free speech. Just days after that, French authorities arrested an anti-semitic comic for hate speech in a Facebook post.
"I was going to say 'fuck that guy' but we were all there in the streets with the pencils and the free speech," Stewart said. "Don't get me wrong, that is a despicable Facebook post that that guy did, but isn't that what the unfriend button is for?"
Stewart called himself "je suis confused" over the issue.
"Arresting someone for saying something days after a rally supporting the right of free expression -- it's a little weird," Stewart said.
But every country has its issues with free speech, including our own.
“We have similar speech issues here in America, generally erring on the side of the government allowing shitty people to say shitty things,” Stewart said, with ironic bleeps of censorship over the foul words.
"As long as we can’t see their boobs," he added, as a censored image of a shirtless woman appeared next to him. "You have to draw a line somewhere. Turns out the line in America is right above the nipple."
So how can we reconcile it all? Stewart decided the best way to express the dilemma over free expression was with the art of cinema.
Check out his short film, "Le Crayon Angoisse (The Anguished Pencil)," in the clip above.
Related
Before You Go
