Kumail Nanjiani & Thomas Middleditch Harassed By Trump Supporters

By Brian Richards | News Stories | November 14, 2016 |

By Brian Richards | News Stories | November 14, 2016 |

It has been almost a full week since the Dumpster Fire-flavored Cheeto Who Shall Not Be Named was elected as President of the United States. Understandably, many of us have been trying to cope with this and keep our heads up to the very best of our ability, including those of us here at Pajiba. (Emily, Petr, Courtney, Jodi, Dustin, and Lord Castleton wrote about their post-Election perspectives and offered their input, so if you haven’t read their exemplary-as-usual posts on the subject, put some time aside to fix that.)

And these are all things that need to be taken into consideration, and should be taken into consideration, so that we don’t let fear and anger completely prevent us from living and enjoying our lives. And just when you take a deep breath and decide to put one foot in front of the other, as you tell yourself that things will eventually get better…you come across something like this, as described by Kumail Nanjiani and Thomas Middleditch.

Was at a bar last night with @Middleditch. At the end of the night, 2 white dudes, 20's, who'd been there for hours came up to us.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

"We're big fans of you guys. (To Thomas) I trolled you on twitter yesterday." He goes on to say how we're wrong about Trump.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

I go "Hey we don't wanna discuss politics right now." His friends goes "oh they're cucks." Then starts yelling at us. "CUCKS CUCKS CUCKS!"

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

He starts getting in my face. Thomas puts his hand on the dude's chest to stop him. "Don't touch me you cuck. Wanna go outside?"

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

At this point, the bouncer runs over, grabs them, kicks them out. The bartender is awesome & apologetic. Thomas & I are stunned.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

This happened at a bar in LA surrounded by ppl. I can't imagine what it must be like to be someone who looks like me in other parts.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

We can't let hate/racism/bigotry/sexism be normalized. If something happens, be safe, but let it be known we won't stand for this.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016

Out with @kumailn; for no reason two dudes came at us with Trump right wing shit, calling us "cucks". Never in my life. I hate this. Week 1.

— Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016

Btw, "cuck" is an Alt Right term. Look it up, it's not positive.

— Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016

@Middleditch @kumailn this is a made up story

— Stoney (@Shersbet) November 12, 2016

.@Shersbet @kumailn damn you. It's real. Wake up. Bouncer removed these people. Shame on you. What is happening?!

— Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016

As Kumail himself pointed out, the only thing scarier than experiencing harassment like this in a major metropolitan city like Los Angeles is being a non-White person experiencing harassment like this in other locations around the country that aren’t as large, or as diverse, or as open-minded. And we need to remember that harassment such as this isn’t at all new, but is something that’s about to become a lot more frequent. Which is why it’s also best to remember that wearing a safety pin or posting angry/thought-provoking tweets and Facebook statuses may be thoughtful gestures, but unless you’re willing to truly speak up and do your part to help and defend those who need your help and support, those gestures will be nothing but empty ones.