The Catholic League Wages War with Comedy Central’s ‘Corporate’ and ‘Hotheaded Bigot’ Jake Weisman

By , a features editor at Vulture who oversees comedy coverage

The Catholic League has a bone to pick with Comedy Central – particularly Jake Weisman, Matt Ingebretson, and Pat Bishop’s new series Corporate. After the latest episode aired this past Wednesday, the show got a surprise post-Valentine’s Day gift in the form of an outraged statement released by Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, titled “COMEDY CENTRAL SHOW ATTACKS CHRIST.†It reads, in part:

“Corporate†is a show most Americans have never heard of. They are not missing anything. Last night it sent a Valentine’s gift to Catholics by portraying a lay person dressed like a nun who gives an advertising executive the finger. She works for a group of mega-churches, the Glorious Salvation Ministries, and is interested in hiring the ad company to do a marketing campaign. An employee of the ad firm shows up wearing an oversized rosary, suggesting that both characters are Catholic. Of course, in real life, mega-churches, and groups with a name like Glorious Salvation Ministries, are Protestant entities, not Catholic. But if the goal is to take liberties with Christian iconography, it makes sense to rip off Catholicism; the mainline churches offer little to exploit. None of this is worth getting too excited about, but knowing that Comedy Central hires a large number of anti-Catholic bigots, we knew they would not stop there. At the end, the nun-like character is shown sucking a cross-shaped popsicle seductively. She smiles, saying, “My favorite flavor—the blood of Christ.†The writers, directors, producers, and actors are sick people.

Weisman, of course, enjoyed the press:

Having apparently taken Weisman’s joke tweet saying he’s going to “bring the whole system down†as an extremely serious threat, Donohue has now called for action from Robert Bakish, president of Viacom, in a statement published to Christian Newswire titled “Comedy Central Exec Threatens Churchâ€:

Viacom has a serious problem on its hands: Jake Weisman, the co-creator and writer of the Comedy Central show, “Corporate†(he also stars in the show), has threatened to “bring the whole system down.†He was referring to the Roman Catholic Church. Weisman made his threat yesterday on Twitter. His incendiary comment was in response to a news release I wrote about the February 14th episode of “Corporate.†In it, the Eucharist was obscenely mocked. A woman dressed like a nun was shown seductively sucking a cross-shaped popsicle. She remarked, “My favorite flavor—the blood of Christ.†It doesn’t get much dirtier than this. It must also be said that the filthy responses that supported Weisman’s tweet cannot be reprinted here—some were aimed directly at me. In one sense, I am happy Weisman made this threat. While Hollywood was not always a bastion of anti-Catholicism, in the past half-century it has certainly evolved into one. Let’s be honest: If Jews were portrayed the way Hollywood portrays Catholics, it would be labeled the premier anti-Semitic industry in America. We noticed that Viacom has a New York office located at 345 Hudson Street (also the site of Comedy Central’s headquarters). Curiously, this is the same address of the Weinstein Company. As everyone knows, Harvey and Bob are veterans in the war on Catholicism. Imagine if we placed a wire in this building to see what is said about Catholics on a daily basis! I am writing to Robert Bakish, president of Viacom, about Weisman’s public admission of anti-Catholic bigotry. If anti-Catholicism were treated as seriously as sexual harassment is these days, Hollywood would become a ghost town. In the meantime, Bakish has a hotheaded bigot on his hands. This calls for a serious response.

Weisman has responded to the latest update, and he’s not fucking around:

Weisman also gave us the below statement regarding his destruction of the Roman Catholic Church and status as the new God:

Since I was a little wee Jewish lad, my only goal in life has been to take down the entire Catholic Church, and actually all of religion, with my demented Jewish words. I will absolutely accomplish it before my time on Earth is done, trust me. Also, watch Corporate Wednesdays at 10 pm or anytime at cc.com/corporate!!!

Watch the episode in question, “Casual Friday,†right here.

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