Trevor Noah has been receiving death threats for interviewing his good friend and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates about coronavirus (COVID-19) relief efforts in Africa. When he stumbled on News24’s public apology, it all made sense.
Trevor Noah interview with Bill Gates gets backlash
The Grammy Award-nominated comedian and host of The Daily Show had been on the receiving end of backlash for his interview with Gates.
As confused as those who had tuned into the Instagram Live conversation, Noah could not fathom how people in Africa could be in revolt against the topics they covered, like the billionaire’s initiatives to fund the continent’s fight against an unseen enemy.
“Where in this entire interview do you hear either of us saying a vaccine will be tested in Africa? Are you confusing us with those French doctors or are you just trying to get retweets?” he replied to one tweet.
At the time (on Saturday), Noah was not aware that News24, a reputable publication, had published a story claiming that Gates and Noah spoke extensively about running vaccine tests in Africa, a controversial subject that was recently spurred by two French doctors.
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It is not known if the publication was confronted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and forced to retract the article, but a day later, News24 published a tweet, apologising unreservedly for making false claims about the billionaire.
On Saturday, we published a story about philanthropist Bill Gates’ support for SA with COVID-19. We wrongly reported that Gates wants to test a ‘vaccine in Africa. This is false. The Gates Foundation will support SA with testing kits and research. We apologise for the mistake,” the tweet read.
The reaction to the apology was rowdy enough to reach the comedian, who replied to the tweet, saying:
The publication’s editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson has conceded to the error and vowed to UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, that the matter will be investigated and “appropriate action” will be taken.
