Tech industry news site TechCrunch is apologizing after the comedian, Silicon Valley actor and known madman T.J. Miller pissed off a lot of people during his hosting gig at the Crunchies, an awards gala for Silicon Valley companies and investors.
The apology stems from things Miller said on stage to a woman seated in the audience, Gabi Holzwarth, who turned out to be the girlfriend of billionaire Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick. After Holzwarth booed Miller for making a joke about Uber, according to Business Insider, Miller went in on her.
"Hey look, Asians aren't supposed to be this entitled in the United States," Miller said first.
After Miller joked that Holzwarth was claiming to be investor Shervin Pishevar else, he said "Are you fucking nuts? That guy seeded the most successful companies in the tri-state area and I'm talking about California, you bitch."
Miller goes on to utterly destroy her over bringing a dog with her to the awards show, and what her start-up, Shyp, does. You can watch it here:
Basically, to some people he came off as more of an asshole than his character on Silicon Valley, which is not easy.
In an editorial post titled, "A Word on The Crunchies," the site writes.
"The use of derogatory slang to refer to women or minority groups is unacceptable at any event TechCrunch runs, period. And we know many others feel the same way, even if it’s hard to find the words to say so. We’re sorry."
They didn't totally write off Miller's performance though. The post does note:
"It’s also possible you found a lot of the show hilarious, which many people did. ... There is no definitive line between funny and offensive. Comedy has a long history of being used as a tool for satire and commentary."
[Via Uproxx]
