He also said that Dweezil Zappa was a better guitarist than his Father. I still hold that one against him.

Plus, he's a Libertarian!

That was a pretty lame "article."

Yeah Lindy is pretty terrible at comedy writing. Unless you like The Oatmeal mixed with social justice buzz-phrases.

3 and 4: See how you can not like a piece without slurring the writer? Good work!

I actually like Penn Jilette as an entertainment personality and even some of his politics. But it's amazing to me how thin-skinned and defensive some people in show business or other kinds of public life can be. You'd think he'd be used to the occasional negative review or reaction by now, but instead he had to be all butthurt and abusive. Ah well. It's an unfortunate fact that a lot of talented people are jerks.

7: Plus, HE'S NOT EVEN MENTIONED IN THE 'OFFENDING' ARTICLE.

He seems like a total DOUCHE!

Oh my god! I just read the Lindy West piece - it doesn't even mention Jillette! He called her a 'cunt' just because he didn't like her humor?

Wow. Seriously, just wow. Dude is a freakin-A misogynist douchebag.

Lindy probably has that Facebook post framed on her wall. Or she should.

To me he is THE UNFORGIVEN.

The only thing more tiresome than a Super Bowl ad roundup is criticism of a Super Bowl ad roundup.

TheStranger.com -> Search: "cunt" -> About 12,100 results

-> Results only from: Articles & Archives -> About 8,010 results



Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

...[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Jillette is a smart guy, and pretty talented. He's an excellent debunker of popular BS. But, like a lot of smart, talented guys who like to debunk things, he thinks the sun shines out of his own asshole, and that has led him to crawl right up after it. LIbertarianism is just the beginning.

Lindy West has entertained me a lot more than Penn & Teller ever have. Agro douchebags are agro douchebags even if they're nerds.

I shook hands with him after a show a few years ago. He and Teller met every fan who tried to talk to them and never turned down photo or autograph requests. They were both really classy, warm and genuinely respectful of their fans. They struck me as the good kind of celebrities.

I know they're both Libertarian, and it really turned me off to their show, Bullshit. Personally, I'm not a fan of their views on some political and economic issues.

I think Mr. Gillette should apologize to Ms. West for what he said. That was wrong and bad of him.

I hope he realizes that and genuinely apologizes, because he and Teller put on a great show and I would like to see it again someday without the guilt of supporting a douchebag and his no-taxes-free-market partner.

I think that Lindy is hilarious, and I find the Penn and Teller schtick completely unwatchable. Unlike Penn and @6, I don't think it's necessary that I use the most incendiary, bigoted vocabulary available to express that preference.

@18: Calling Lindy West a cunt with a shitty attitude has nothing to do with preferring Penn Jillette over her, but I'd expect that sort of simplistic thinking to come from one of her fans.

19: Calm down, Narcissus—18 wasn't talking about you.

@20: 18 was, but 19 completely missed the point, as usual.

I'm a fan of Penn and Teller the act, but the people are pretty hateful.

What a ridiculous overreaction? Jesus, it's a piece about Super Bowl ads, and the hyperbole seems appropriate.



With that said, similar assholeishness on Facebook doesn't mean one can't be Bartender Crush of the Week.

@19 I was deploring the use of the word "cunt" to deride someone because you don't like them or think they are funny (or because you just truly despise women). It is used, in the states anyway, to intimidate and silence women for daring to speak on topics having to do with gender. It is a verbal tool used to promote patriarchy, harassment, rape culture, etc. Because it's freighted with all this connotation, a person choosing this word to criticize an outspoken feminist comedian runs the risk of marking himself as a misogynist, and a fairly dumb one at that. It is not the same as me calling you a dick.

One of the times when this piece of shit was in town didn't he go off on a barista at one of the coffee shops down in Belltown? I seem to remember Slog or someplace else mentioned his cuntish behavior.

@23, personally, I use the word "cunt" to refer to beards that look like his.

I am 50/50 on Penn Jillette. 50% of the time, I liked what he does, or how he narrates and do other stuff on "Bullshit!", the other 50% of the time, I think he is uneducated blowhard with no manners. As much I am not part of the Lindy West fan club, she doesn't deserve that type of insults, nor does anyone...I just see words like that as a way of control and subjugating a woman or any person.

I think Penn Jillette should team up with Tao Lin.

I worked with Jillette once in the late 1990's. He absolutely is NOT very smart. But holy fuck does he think he is.

The man is an insufferable Randian adolescent iconoclast jack-ass who reads Reason Magazine and thinks browsing a book makes him an expert. This is the opposite of intelligence.

What he is is a moderately talented musician, comedian and magician. But that doesn't make him smart. It makes him tenacious and ambitious.

Meh. She deserves it as much as Penn deserves to be called a dick. They're both working with similar schticks (though I find Lindy's to be much more strained). Hard feelings shouldn't be held onto this long.

@15,

You mean when he "debunks" global warming?

It is not okay to use the words "cunt" and "douchebag" and other groinicological terms to denigrate women. If you don't understand this, see me after class.

@31 Can we at least call women assholes when appropriate? Is it appropriate to call men dicks or peckerheads or other groinalogical terms?

Also, aren't douche and douchebags generally for men?

I still don't understand the American use of "the c word" to describe women. Is it not as offensive in America as it is in Australia to refer to a woman as "a c***"?

I agree with his opinion (stress, it's only an opinion) that the article by Lindy West was not funny (or witty), but that response was appalling.

@34, it IS very offensive, yes.

I like him as a meme...

36: Sorry, what? Women take four hour long coffee breaks? Just generally speaking, you say? When is that? When do we do that? In between working full time, and being responsible for all or the vast majority of the housework and childcare and meal preparation for ourselves, husbands and kids, the rest of the time?

Tell me, I'm dyingto know: Where in the 24 hour clock is our four hour coffee break?

(you total fucking asshole)

The thing I find so disappointing about guys like this - smart, well spoken, presumably well travelled - is when you learn they have a fucking 9 year old daughter at home, as Penn does. Why is it guys like him can never project out just a teeny tiny bit, and imagine their daughter grown up and being called such an incredibly offensive term - basically THE most offensive one at least here in the U.S. that you hurl at a woman - and twice - in writing - and to boot, over really nothing. Was Lindy's article really so worthless and vile as to incite this level of venom and anger in this guy? And if so, doesn't it suggest he apparently has issues with women? Otherwise, why go so nutso overboard?

Somebody needs to ask him to his face: WILL he be cool with his daughter being one day called a "cunt" - publicly - by some angry dude? Or right in front of him, spat out angrily by a boyfriend perhaps, when she starts dating? Hmm Penn? Will you sit there and nod your head, or will be want to leap up and strangle the guy?

And please, people, stop with the fake bullshit comparisons of "cunt" vs "dick". Come on. It's okay, it really is, to acknowledge that "cunt" is worlds worse than "dick" in the insult/offense game. Do a quick pole of your female relatives, friends, coworkers, if you feel you need to. Better yet, try calling your female boss or coworker a "cunt" - put it in an angry email or facebook post directly to her - and see how she reacts. "Dick" by comparison is piddling schoolyard stuff.