Comedy Central defends Trevor Noah against Twitter backlash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comedy Central defended Trevor Noah, the South African comedian who will replace Jon Stewart as the host of the late-night news parody, "The Daily Show," against backlash on Tuesday about past comments he made about Jews and women. Viacom Inc-owned Comedy Central, which airs "The Daily Show," said Noah, 31, is "a talented comedian with a bright future" at the network. "Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included," the network said in a statement. "To judge him or his comedy on a handful of jokes is unfair." Noah, the son of a black South African mother and a Swiss father who uses his mixed race in his comedy routine, came under fire for jokes he posted on Twitter. "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would have felt so bad in my german car!" he said in a 2009 tweet. In another he compared England's Manchester United football team to a white girl: "Heavy upfront but lacking in the back." Noah's tweets prompted comments questioning how wise a choice he is to succeed Stewart on "The Daily Show," which averages slightly more than a million viewers each night. "Far left #Daily Show hires a racist misogynist to replace Stewart," tweeted @johncardillo. American comedian Roseanne Barr urged Noah in a tweet to cease "sexist & anti semitic 'humour' about jewish women & Israel." But another follower, Jack Obora@JackObora, had a different opinion. "Seriously who reads through six years of tweets to try and find something to be offended about? #TrevorNoah #DailyShow," he tweeted. (Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)