Copyright Parade
Leslie Jones isn’t here for cheap laughs that come at someone else’s expense. On the Thursday, October 30 episode of Good One: A Podcast About Jokes, she got real about the kind of comedy she refuses to stand for — and held up fellow comedian Tony Hinchcliffe as Exhibit A. “I hate shock humor,” the 58-year-old SNL alum said. “It’s just dumb.” Then she leaned in. “Like the Tony Hinchcliffe, and I’ll say it ’cause f*** that b****-a** b****.” From there, Jones didn’t hold back. She took aim at his trademark mustache — comparing it to “a Puerto Rican porn star” — before firing off a few more unprintable jabs. Then she broke down why the “shock” style rubs her the wrong way. “It’s not comedy,” the Ghostbusters star said. “It’s mean, it’s mean stuff. Comedy’s not supposed to be mean. Comedy’s supposed to be relieving.” She doubled down on the difference between wit and cruelty. “Even when Don Rickles was at his hardest, he was still funny,” she said. “Every time I see those comics perform I’m like, go to therapy. You need some help.” To drive it home, she added, “There’s a difference between ‘Take my wife, please,’ and ‘F*** my wife, please.’” 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 For context, “shock” comedy is built on pushing buttons — using taboo, offensive, or deliberately uncomfortable material to provoke a reaction. It’s the kind of humor that can draw laughs and backlash in equal measure, depending on where the line falls. And for Hinchcliffe, that line has been crossed more than once. The 41-year-old comic built his career on roast battles and his live podcast Kill Tony, a weekly show where comics perform one-minute sets before being roasted by the panel. The format has earned him an audience that loves his no-filter style, but that same style has landed him in controversy after controversy. In 2021, a viral clip showed him mocking an Asian American comic with racial slurs during a Texas set. And in October 2024, Hinchcliffe made headlines again after performing ahead of a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden with a joke calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” according to the BBC. The backlash was immediate. Puerto Rican leaders condemned the remark, social media lit up with calls for him to be dropped from future events, and even Trump’s team publicly distanced itself from the bit. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to ABC News. Hinchcliffe refused to apologize. “Not to the Puerto Ricans. Not to the whites. Not to the Blacks. Not to the Palestinians. Not to the Jews,” he said on his comedy show in November 2024. “And not to my own mother, who I made fun of during the set.” He later took to X (formerly Twitter) to clap back at critics, addressing Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, who had publicly condemned his joke. “These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist,” he wrote at the time. “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
