Is Jon Stewart responsible for getting a Newsweek journalist jailed in Iran?In June, Newsweek's Maziar Bahari, who has covered Iran for over a decade, participated in a 'Daily Show' skit in the aftermath of Iran's controversial election. Bahari was interviewed by tongue-in-cheek 'Daily Show' correspondent Jason Jones. "He dressed like some character out of a B movie about mercenaries in the Middle East -- with a checkered Palestinian kaffiyeh around his neck and dark sunglasses," wrote Bahari afterwards.
Evidently the Iranian regime didn't get the joke. On June 21, four days after the skit aired, the writer was detained without cause. Maziar Bahari was held, in his own words, for "118 days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes."
Bahari recounted in this week's Newsweek cover story his interrogation at the hands of Iranian officials. Several security officers roused Bahari from his sleep at 7AM on the Sunday after his 'Daily Show' segment aired in June and detained the journalist. Five days later, on June 26, the security officers confronted him with a DVD of his appearance. An interrogator who Bahari calls "Mr. Rosewater" said, "We have interesting video footage of you. That may persuade you to be more cooperative."
"It's just comedy," Bahari replied, "feeling weak." "Can you tell us why an American journalist pretending to be a spy has chosen you to interview?" one of the interrogators asked Bahari. He was accused of being a spy for the CIA and MI6, among other things.
Bahari was released after 118 days in time to witness the birth of his daughter Marianna.
Reader Comments (38)
Hopoot at 8:45PM on Nov 24th 2009
awesome...
Forto at 8:53PM on Nov 24th 2009
I don't know how you link Daily Show with Sara Palin, but I'm shocked! It's really Sara Palin?
jerry warriner at 5:45PM on Nov 26th 2009
This is a foretaste of what's to come if the Religious Right ever gains power in the United States.
The Daily Show isn't responsible for the "detention." The mullahs just don't have a sense of humor. Christian mullahs like Mike Huckabee would do the same thing.
Journalists in the U.S. are already being jailed for not revealing their sources, so why should we be surprised when the Iranians jail a journalist?
Right-wing religious nuts don't have a sense of humor when the subject is gay rights or stem-cell research.
A demagogue is a demagogue, whether he's Iranian or American.
xxrocknizzxx at 8:06PM on Nov 24th 2009
It's not Jon Stewart or Daily Show's fault. Maziar Bahari chose to go on the show and do the skit. I don't see how the blame is on the Daily Show.
David at 10:18PM on Nov 24th 2009
Why did John Stewart change his last name from Liebovitz to Stewart? Is he embarrassed? Thats not right.
Reese at 8:09PM on Nov 24th 2009
Stewart should have been the one jailed - for being a dumbass.
Ron at 8:36PM on Nov 24th 2009
So if someone tells you to jump off the edge of the Grand Canyon and you do it then according to your "logic" they are the ones to blame? The fault here is the moronic government in Iran. Seems that to them everybody is a spy. Kind of makes one wonder what the hell they are trying to hide.
Tom C. at 8:17PM on Nov 24th 2009
So Jon Stewart is to blame and not Bahari, who as you say has covered Iran for over a decade and should have had a clue how well it would have been accepted there. When are people responsible for their own bad judgements?
I don't mean to imply he should have been detained, on the contrary. However, he should have known better and used better judgement.
Rob at 8:18PM on Nov 24th 2009
The more Islamic a regime, the more repressive and backward. The more religious a people, the closer they get to being a frightening caricature of some bizarre death cult. If there is one thing the dark ages and the modern middle east tells us, it is "Religion does no one any good and it is better left to the dust bin of history." We have known Islam can't take a joke at least since the publishing of the infamous muhamed cartoons.
Raven at 12:45PM on Nov 25th 2009
Journalists and satirists alike constantly put their art before their well being, a fact which was more evident in times gone by than in the modern world. The public often does not realize how easily a joke regarding sensative material like religion or politics can take on deadly real ramifications.
I don't see anywhere here that Maziar Bahari blamed either John Stewart or the Daily Show for his incarceration and I suspect, like any proper journalist, he believed in his art enough to lay blame properly where it belonged: on the overzealous Iranian authorities.