Here's what Carolla said exactly in the New York Post interview:
"...They make you hire a certain number of chicks, and they’re always the least funny on the writing staff. The reason why you know more funny dudes than funny chicks is that dudes are funnier than chicks. If my daughter has a mediocre sense of humor, I’m just gonna tell her, “Be a staff writer for a sitcom. Because they’ll have to hire you, they can’t really fire you, and you don’t have to produce that much. It’ll be awesome.”
At this point in time, it feels like anyone who goes down the "women aren't funny" route is just trying to drum up some quick attention for themselves. It also allows other comedians to become instant heroes by coming up with quippy responses. The whole cycle is pretty sickening (and stupid), but nonetheless, it's amusing to check out the rebuttals.
Saturday Night Live writer Paula Pell and TV producer/Twitter comedian Jenny Johnson said comments like these felt the belonged in the 1980's.
I'm less offended by Adam Corolla's comments than I am super impressed that he came here in a time machine to speak to us from the 80's.
I'm less offended by Adam Corolla's comments than I am super impressed that he came here in a time machine to speak to us from the 80's.-- Paula Pell
Alec Baldwin punched a photographer, a man thinks women aren't funny & Johnny Depp is single again. I'll take 'Headlines from 1988' for $600
Alec Baldwin punched a photographer, a man thinks women aren't funny & Johnny Depp is single again. I'll take 'Headlines from 1988' for $600-- Jenny Johnson
Others, like Johnson, Lena Dunham, and Dave Holmes (remember him from Say What Karaoke?) made the point that Carolla isn't a particularly relevant voice.
Wait, Adam Carolla, is he the one who did the voice of the parrot in Aladdin??? He makes me giggle.
Wait, Adam Carolla, is he the one who did the voice of the parrot in Aladdin??? He makes me giggle.-- Lena Dunham
Why are we ruining our perfect not caring what Adam Carolla thinks streak?
Why are we ruining our perfect not caring what Adam Carolla thinks streak?-- dave holmes
The biggest impact this whole Adam Carolla scandal has had is discovering 95% of people have no idea how to spell 'Carolla'.
The biggest impact this whole Adam Carolla scandal has had is discovering 95% of people have no idea how to spell 'Carolla'.-- Jenny Johnson
Zach Braff and Billy Eichner of "Billy On The Street" gave examples of women who are funny. Twitter comedian Kelly Oxford did the same, except she used herself as the example.
Don't get mad at Adam Carolla for being provocative. Just watch how @lenadunham (and her writing skills) on "Girls" proves him oh so wrong.
Don't get mad at Adam Carolla for being provocative. Just watch how @lenadunham (and her writing skills) on "Girls" proves him oh so wrong.-- Zach Braff
Hey Carolla - don't think women are funny? Two words: ALLY. McBEAL.
Hey Carolla - don't think women are funny? Two words: ALLY. McBEAL.-- billy eichner
You know what Adam Carolla said about women not being funny is bull, at a party last week I made him laugh three goddamn times.
You know what Adam Carolla said about women not being funny is bull, at a party last week I made him laugh three goddamn times.-- kelly oxford
Perhaps the best response came in a Tumblr post from comedian Rob Delaney, who wrote about seeing a co-ed group of comedians (including Amy Poehler) perform in the late 90's and realizing that the best comedy comes from men and women working together:
"I learned there that the funniest thing in the world is not a group of men, nor is it a group of women. It’s women and men working together. And if you want to make a collaborative, funny project, be it a sketch group, an improv show, a movie or a TV show, you better the fuck involve women and men together in your endeavor, or it simply won’t be all that it could be.
Some years later, Twitter came on the scene and rather elegantly revealed how systemic sexism truly is in the world of comedy. Here we had a TRUE meritocracy. You didn’t have to get hired by a team of producers to get your jokes out there; if you were funny, you were going to get noticed, and that was that. For an exercise, name three hilarious women you discovered on Twitter and hadn’t heard of before. Easy to do, right? I know I could name three times three times three in a jiffy and then keep going."