Colbert, Meyers joke about Alabama book mistakenly deemed sexually explicit
With the writers’ strike over and late night talk shows back in full swing, it was really only a matter of time before Alabama wound up the punchline in someone’s monologue.
In fact, multiple hosts took turns cracking wise Tuesday night about the the news of a title being added to a list of potentially “sexually explicit” books to be moved from the children’s section of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library (HCPL) system, because the author’s name is Marie-Louise Gay.
AL.com’s Williesha Morris reports the library’s executive director said “Read Me a Story, Stella,” a children’s picture book about a pair of siblings reading books together and building a doghouse, should not have been put on the list and was added because of the keyword “gay.”
Karen Li, publisher at Groundwood Books (which publishes Gay’s books) said the book has never been “mistakenly censored.”
“Although it is obviously laughable that our picture book shows up on their list of censored books simply because the author’s last name is Gay, the ridiculousness of that fact should not detract from the seriousness of the situation,” Li said in a statement.
Read the full story about the mistakenly censored book.
Seth Meyers
The “Late Night with Seth Meyers” host closed his Tuesday night monologue with this joke (Warning: Some might find it inappropriate):
“A library director in Alabama confirmed yesterday that a children’s picture book was mistakenly added to a list of inappropriate titles because the author’s last name is Gay. ‘Well, that explains a lot,’ said recently banned YA author Dick Pervert.”
The punchline was accompanied by the “Late Night” graphics team’s obligatory Photoshop work featuring the fictional author folding his arms next to a stack of his would-be banned books, among them “A Dick Pervert Story.” Watch the joke in the video above. (You’ll find it at the 2:50 mark in the clip, which continues past the monologue.)
Stephen Colbert
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” also took a turn. It also marked the final joke of Colbert’s Tuesday monologue.
Here’s the joke:
“In censorship news, we learned that a library has flagged a book as potentially explicit due to the author’s last name. The book in question is ‘Read Me a Story Stella’ by Marie-Louise Gay. So they wanted to ban a book because the author’s last name is Gay. Seems crazy, but it’s the kind of thing that could happen anywhere … in Alabama.
“Now the library is facing pushback and the executive director said it was a keyword filtering mistake and that Gay’s book shouldn’t have been placed on the list. See? It was just accidental discrimination that got in the way of their on-purpose discrimination. So authors, if you want your books in Alabama libraries, make sure to adopt a very hetero penname. Look out for ‘One Fish, Two Fish: The Fish are Male and Female, and They’re Married’ by Dr. Straighty McMan-Penis.” (This also included a comically designed Dr. Seuss mockup).
This wasn’t Alabama’s first appearance on late night since the shows returned last week. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit served as the musical guest during the first episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since the Writers Guild of America strike ended in September.
After an extended monologue catching up on all the trending stories the show missed, Kimmel interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger and then welcomed the Alabama native and Grammy-winner to help re-usher the show into the late night landscape.