Nikki Glaser said she is thinking twice about performing political jokes, including those about President Donald Trump, over fears of getting death threats or being detained.
The comedian was at the gala for the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Sunday to celebrate honoree Conan O’Brien.
The mood took a more serious turn when she opened up on the red carpet about her concerns with using political humor, according to Deadline.
“Like, you just are scared that you’re gonna get doxxed and death threats or who knows where this leads, like, detained. Honestly that’s not even like a joke,” Glaser told reporters.
“It’s like a real fear. So it’s unfortunate that that’s true, but I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t think about that sometimes. … I can be up on the gallows and say, ‘I was just joking. I’m a comedian.’ I hope that that’s a defense.”
Glaser told The Hill on Sunday that she misses being open about her point of view and formerly “felt safe speaking to that.”
“I went from being like ‘I don’t want to talk about politics because I don’t want to alienate anyone’ to like, ‘I want to talk about it but now I’m scared to.’ And that’s just that’s a s—ty place to be,” she added.
Trump announced in February that he would be appointing himself chairman of the Washington-based performing arts center, firing multiple members of the board of trustees.
O’Brien told reporters that he has no control over what his colleagues would say during the night, according to Deadline.
“Well, I don’t have any say of what any of my friends are doing,” he said.
Following Glaser’s remarks on the carpet, some fellow comedians took the opportunity to mock the new administration. Sarah Silverman included a jab in her speech addressed to O’Brien, saying, “I just really miss the days when you were America’s only orange a–hole,” according to Yahoo Entertainment.
Other comedians in attendance include Bill Burr, Stephen Colbert, Sean Evans, Will Ferrell, David Letterman, Kumail Nanjani, Tracy Morgan, John Mulaney, Adam Sandler, Andy Richter and Reggie Watts.
The program will premiere on Netflix on May 4, according to the Kennedy Center.
