Depending on which late-night show you tuned into, you might have caught a wacky arm-wrestle or some sobering words about comedy and free speech. Both Conan O’Brien and Jon Stewart devoted a small slice of their shows to the Charlie Hebdo tragedy that left 12 people dead Wednesday morning, after terrorists opened fire in a French satire-magazine’s newsroom. Here’s what the two hosts had to say:
A slew of other celebrities — including Michael Ian Black, Ricky Gervais, and Bill Maher — have been sounding off since the news broke, but Tina Fey had some particularly galvanizing thoughts. Speaking at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour earlier today, she said:
Obviously, that news is terrible and tragic and upsetting … You look at that and you look at the controversy surrounding The Interview, it makes you think about how important free speech is and how it absolutely must be defended. [We] cannot back down on free speech in any way. We all have to stand firm on the issue of free speech.
At his Madison Square Garden show on Wednesday night, Louis C.K. paid tribute to the fallen staffers of the French weekly by writing “Charlie Hebdo†on his shirt: