The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Horny, Anti-Woke GOP Defends Sydney Sweeney Amid Denim Ad Backlash | Tony Hale

Episode Date: August 1, 2025

Desi Lydic takes on the only story big enough to eclipse the Epstein files: Sydney Sweeney’s controversial denim ad. Public pushback over the ad's supposed white supremacy undertones has the GOP spinning out of control, while Megyn Kelly rebuilds the glass ceiling with accusations that America is jealous of Sweeney’s “hottness.” Trump's association with Jeffrey Epstein has been all over the news lately, but Jordan Klepper knows from years of talking to MAGA that if Trump does come out in the files, we can expect a very rational response. Emmy Award-winning actor and producer Tony Hale talks to Desi Lydic about his new film, “Sketch,” sharing how the film’s story about a child’s drawings coming to life was inspired by writer-director Seth Worly’s sister, and how the movie can open up conversations for adults and kids alike about the importance of expressing emotions. He also reflects on the iconic “oddball” characters he played on “Veep” and “Arrested Development” and the joke that took him 15 years to get. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show with your host, Desi Lydic. Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Jessie Lyek. We've got so much to talk about tonight. Jordan Klepper releases his Epstein files. Megyn Kelly loses her mind again.

And finally, we answer the question, do these jeans make my ass look racist? So let's get into the headlines. ["The National Conversation"] ["The National Conversation"] For the past few weeks, the national conversation has been totally dominated by the Jeffrey Epstein story. But who would have thought that the thing that knocked it off the top of the charts

would be Sidney Sweeney doing the most laid back line delivery I've ever seen in my life. Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue. Sidney Sweeney has very jeans. John's, John's are pasta. My John's are blue. I love my blue. John's, John's, John's, blue. I love her so much.

Okay, so there were a bunch of different reactions to this ad. Some people thought, yeah, pretty standard ad where a hot person tells you to buy stuff. Other people were like, wow, Desi, I saw you in that jeans ad and you looked great. And then I had to be like, no, that was Sidney Sweeney. It's a common mistake.

Anyway, but then there was another reaction online, which is that the ad wasn't just selling jeans. It was also subtly promoting white supremacy. And as you can imagine, that spawned an incredible right-wing backlash. What these left-wingers don't know is that they are revealing themselves to be the actual racists here, racists against white people. They're mad because she's young, hot, healthy, white and blonde. Liberals, they just hate hot people.

They just do. Yeah, that's a great point. It's a great point, it's a great point. I thought they just hated meat and freedom, but they also hate hot people. They do. By the way, are you guys kidding? Liberals love hot people.

They love hot people so much, they're apparently willing to give them one free murder. But it wasn't just right-wing media. It was also people who you thought had more important things to do, like pick me Senator Ted Cruz. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, he wrote on X, wow, now the crazy left has come out against beautiful women. I'm sure that will pull well.

Yeah, you tell him Ted Cruz. Hey, if you want to talk shit about a woman and get away with it, you better be talking about my wife. And if you can believe it, it gets grosser than Ted Cruz. She's a hot, beautiful, biological woman and everybody loves it. I thought it was a joke about her, you know, two most prominent assets. I'm sorry, as a red-blooded American male, it's not her blue eyes or her skin that I first see when I look at that picture.

She is a lovely young woman, too young for me, unfortunately. Why do you think people are so mad about that ad? It seems much less Sensual than the one Brooke Shields did back in the 1980s Sensual Brooke Shields that was sensual These guys are so horny for a jeans ad that they started remembering older jeans ads. They were horny for They're withdrawing 40-year-old treasury bonds

from their spank bank. Now Betty Boop, she was sensual. Can Stuart Varney please not say sensual anymore? You celebrate the sensuality that's in those two jeans ads? You like it? Stop saying sensuality that's in those two jeans ads? You like it? Oh, stop saying sensual! Do you ever see that time-lapse video

of a deer decomposing in, like, 10 seconds? Every time I hear him say sensual, that's what happens to my uterus. That guy saying sensual can make anything less sensual, and I mean anything. Jeans are passed on from parents to offspring. Sensual. Not sensual. Not. Can anyone possibly make this story even more gross?

Donald Trump Jr. posted this AI generated image poking fun at city's commercial. Donald is so hot right now. of his commercial, Donald is so hot right now. Oh! Yeah, who wants to f*** my dad? You know what? You know what? I am done hearing from men on this. Perhaps we can get some sound analysis from someone who isn't suffering from boner brain

fog. Finally, we have an actual woman with amazing breasts and an obviously kick-ass body who is in a dress or in her jeans, whatever, and it's wonderful. Jesus. Megyn Kelly's more horned up than they are. It's almost making me miss sensual. Basically, Megyn thinks the people who oppose this ad

are just jealous haters who wish they were as hot as Sydney Sweeney. Come to think of it, I did see someone going after her recently. Who was that again? Sydney Sweeney, the new toast of the town out there, because she's got these enormous breasts that everybody's obsessed with.

Well, well, well, Megan, one minute you say you love boobs, the next you don't. What are you, my in hindsight very gay high school boyfriend? And by the way, Sydney isn't the first woman Megan's gone after for being hot. I object to like JLo and Shakira

showing their vag at the Super Bowl. She dresses like a prostitute. She looked like a hooker. Look at this. Her enormous breasts and a bathing suit was her chosen outfit. She hasn't come to grips with the fact that she's not a sex symbol anymore. You seem to be a desperate ho wanting strangers to admire your vagina. Yeah, yeah, that's right women.

You listen to Megyn Kelly and hide your sexuality unless your body makes liberals mad, in which case it's a kick ass body. Hell yeah. Go girl. You murder both those liberals here. Not so much that it threatens Megyn or so help me God, she will destroy you, hoebags. But remember, this whole thing started because people were calling this ad a racist dog whistle. And whether that was intended or not, the reaction was definitely more of a dog megaphone.

We're sick and f***ing tired of the nonsense where you are not allowed to ever celebrate someone who is white and blonde and blue-eyed. We are over this woke agenda. We're over the Lizzo's. We're over the Dilla Mulvaney's. If this was a 300-pound, non-binary person, they would be applauding her.

I was so sick of seeing these just unappealing losers who've destroyed their own bodies. She's not a plus-size swim model on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She's not a male prom queen. This ad is the final declaration that we're done doing that shit. Guys.

Ooh! Guys, guys, guys, calm down. we're done doing that shit. Guys. Boo! Guys, guys, guys, calm down. It's just an ad for dimes. Blue dimes. This is such bullshit. Blonde women have had constant representation, OK, in entertainment, in fashion, in letter turning. It's not that they want to see more white women.

It's that they want to see none of anyone else. For a story about boobs, it sure has a hell of a lot of assholes. LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE But, look, in all of this conversation, we're forgetting about the real victim here, American Eagle. They just wanted to trick grandmas doing Christmas shopping into thinking they were Abercrombie and Fitch.

And now look what's happened. They've become associated with white supremacy, which is probably why they're now releasing this new ad to clarify their stance on racial equality. Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. Asians are the best race.

Ronnie Chang has the best race. Ronnie Channing has the best jeans. When we come back, Jordan Fletcher finds out what Maggie thinks about that scene to don for the rest. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome back to The Daily Show. Donald Trump has had a roller coaster relationship with Jeffrey Epstein over the years, but so of his supporters, Jordan Klepper has more. ["The Capsule of the Dead"] ["The Capsule of the Dead"] ["The Capsule of the

Dead"] ["The Capsule of the Dead"] The Epstein story. The Jeffrey Epstein story is everywhere these days, but it's not new to the Manga crowd. In fact, I've heard some

version of it since 2019. Although, early on, some of the folks were hazy on the finer details, like his name. Mark Epstein. Yeah. Yeah, he's got quite a list of people that have showed up at his island from what I've read.

Bill Clinton, Bill Gates. So isn't there something there? And doesn't that speak of the botry that's at these levels? Who Jeffrey Epstein parties with? Yeah, I mean, there's gotta be something. Epstein famously spent a lot of time with Trump. That an issue?

I didn't know that he spent a lot of time with Trump. Sometimes the Epstein talk was lumped in with fun conspiracies. Somebody put me on to QAnon. And I believe some of it with Epstein and everything and Clinton and all of the- You would never vote for anybody who associated with Jeffrey Epstein?

I did vote for Clinton back, I used to be a Democrat but I think... And then you voted for Trump. I voted for Trump. So you love Epstein's actually, that might be the one thing. Yeah maybe, I don't really know. I could go down that rabbit hole all day but I believe in some things. So JFK Jr. is still alive. What?

And he's disguised in the background. So this guy is always behind Trump at the rallies. I'm going to look out for him today, by the way. And he looks disguised and then two down is supposed to be Carolyn Bassett. So I kind of hope I see them tonight. So you're saying JFK Jr. is still alive and spending his time in the background at Trump rallies? Yes. And how could I forget this man? I'm Red Pill Ken. He was more concerned with a different Trump associate. Total evil.

All you got to do is look at Sean Puffy Combs, man. He's right in your face. Oh, he's the black Epstein. He's the black Epstein. Well, what is this all about? Is there a connection with Puffy and Biden? Is there a Biden? Yes, because they're all a part of the Nazi world order.

That's what I'm telling you. Wait, Biden and Puffy? All of them, all of them, all of them. All of them. Stop, man, stop. If you don't know that, then I'm giving you... I'm sorry, I didn't get his latest album. I guess I haven't gone that deep into the discography. While Trump was being indicted in a Manhattan court,

his supporters were gathered outside, deflecting. Biden is a better fighter than me. He's all known. Sure. Well, he's in the White House. He likes to sniff kids. I'm sorry, but you said Biden likes to sniff kids? Yeah, you've seen all the videos of him sniffing kids all the time. He's been on Epstein Island 26 times. So you don't support anybody who associates with somebody like Epstein?

No, I wouldn't. No, never. You're here defending Donald Trump? Sure. What do you think about Trump associating with Epstein? He was on his flight once coming to New York. You're never going to see a video of Trump next to Epstein? There is a video, yeah. There is a video, you're right.

So there is a video and evidence of Trump with Epstein? Yes, there is. As you talk through it, it almost seems like a double standard. Why is it a double standard? You people, for the most part, the fake press, I like to call you the fake f**k. Don't give a s**t, you can embarrass me. You think you're journalists, you're not.

I'm not. With that big parade, everything that's coming down the street, what are you most excited to see? Tanks. Tanks, the helicopters. Throw something like this, and you can't think of what else is going on. Yeah, that's right. A couple days ago we were talking about Epstein's List. I know, right?

Nobody's thinking about that now. No, it's not even. It's the United States Army, 250th anniversary. On the Gulf of America, the Tampa Bay young Republicans attacked the Democrats and Epstein was very carefully thought out criticism. Don't really know too much about it, but I know the Democratic party is big into doing stuff underneath the surface level.

What do you mean? Like what? Like human trafficking. Oh my God. The Dems are into human trafficking. Of course. I mean, how do you think they make most of their money anyways?

You won't let that stand? No. Just wait till the Epstein files come out. Right. It's gonna happen any minute. So you guys still are anti-human trafficking? 100%. 100%. You guys did invite Andrew Tate to come talk to your group.

Yeah. Yep. Andrew Tate, kind of big in the alleged human trafficking thing. You gotta make sure that's not gonna be happening here. You are not welcome here, human traffickers. That's right. Except you are invited to our group to talk. So how will this group react

if the Epstein files are released and Trump is in there? I'm sure we can expect a very rational response. So JFK Jr. is still alive. Or maybe not. Thank you, Jordan. When we come back, Tony Hale will be joining me on the show, so vote for him.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. No Frills delivers. Get groceries delivered to your door from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC Optimum Points on your first five orders. Shop now at nofrills.ca. -♪ -♪ Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is an Emmy Award-winning actor

and producer who stars in the new film, Sketch. Please welcome Tony Hale. Thank you. Thanks for being here. Thanks for being here. Oh, the entire- Such an honor being here. Oh my God, the entire building is so excited to have you here. Tony Hale, comedic genius. Oh, it's come from- Oh, nice. It comes from so much pain. Yes, I assume so. It always does.

Yeah, yeah. It always does. You have played some of the most iconic roles in TV. Gary in Veep, Buster Bluth in Arrested Development. Oh, thank you. Do you ever go back and watch old episodes of Veep just to remember what things could be like if we had competent adults in charge? That's interesting.

Do you know what? I actually love when people come up and say they like the show and remind me of bits, because I don't... Somebody once said, they said, oh, I loved that bit when, because my hand was eaten off by a seal in the show. Sure, sure. And I was in the hospital, and I said, oh, I loved that bit when, because my hand was eaten off by a seal in the show. And I was in the hospital, and I said,

oh, I said I love that bit when the doctor says he's going to be okay. And somebody had to remind me that it said, no, he said he's going to be all right, meaning he just has a right arm. Yeah, and this was a joke I got 15 years after I shot the show. You know, it was so layered.

But that's what makes both of those shows actually so incredible is they're jokes on jokes on jokes. And you do kind of have to re-watch multiple times to catch everything. I want to talk about your creative process. I'm just so curious because these characters that you've played, so many of them are real oddballs. Very specific, quirky characters. because these characters that you've played, so many of them are real oddballs,

very specific, quirky characters. And in any other... I just started crying right now. And you'd be like, oh, that's where it's from. Yes, let's push in. He's getting emotional. But almost in any other hands, they would be played in this kind of, like, broad, over-the-top way.

But what I love about your acting so much is you're so grounded. Oh, thanks. And you're so truthful. And you really root for these characters. So what is your process like? Do you improvise? Do you get into a physicality?

Yeah, I remember. It's very nice to say. It's just true. My theorists would be like, oh, I've got some stories. But I remember on Arrested, I remember asking Mitch Hurwitz a very actory question. I said, what does Buster, like, want? And he goes, all he wants is safety. And so I thought about Buster,

and that's why he would always go in the back. Like, he would always be in this kind of, like, defensive place. And because he was always like, what's coming at me? And he was just always kind of, like, just looking around, like, what's happening. So he was always like, what's coming at me? And he was just always kind of like just looking around, like, what's happening? So he was always kind of checking out and always worried someone was going to come at him. Oh, that's so fad.

He was so codependent. Yes. There was a scene where my mom, Lucia Walter, sorry, Jessica Walter, her name was Lucia Walter, one and the same. But she was on house arrest, and she couldn't smoke. And Buster was... She asked Buster to inhale the smoke out of her mouth. And then exhaled on the balcony.

And then he would, like, breathe, and then I would come back, and I would inhale the smoke again, like a baby bird getting a worm out of a mother. And it was such a picture of codependency. You know, it was just like so twisted but so fun. Oh, that Mitch Hurwitz. So twisted. And I have asthma, too, by the way.

Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah. Never quite recovered from that. No, no, no. Hence the therapy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to talk about this new movie that you have now, Sketch. Yeah. I heard it described as

Jurassic Park meets Inside Out. Yes, yes, yes. It's such a fascinating movie. It's so great. How do you describe it? Ooh, so, well, this movie's taken us eight years to get made. And my friend Seth Worley, the writer and director, who is so talented, he had this idea. It actually came from his situation

that his sister was in growing up, where his sister was drawing these really dark pictures, and his parents took her to a therapist because they were worried. And it was a bullying situation. And the therapist asked her, do you want these things to happen to this bully? And she was honest and she said, kind of.

And the therapist said, well, I think it's a good idea that you drew them rather than left it blank. You know, that you were creative and put it on paper rather than keeping it up here where it festers and that gets dark. And so that's where this story came from. I play a worried dad who's seeing these pictures and then something happens where the pictures come to life.

And it talks about, and in the movie, my wife has passed away, so it's all these kind of things of kids, she's actually processing her feelings and I'm kind of compartmentalizing them. Actually, there's a new term. You know, I've heard of helicopter parenting, where you kind of... No, never heard of it.

Do you need more water? Yeah. Gosh. So surreal. Here's a tissue. It's really happening. But there's a new term called snowplow parenting, where you want to remove the challenges completely

from your kids, which I totally relate to. I have a 19-year-old, and seeing my kid have to go through stuff and her feeling feelings, you're like, ugh, but she has to walk through that stuff to grow, and my character in the movie wanted to compartmentalize, and so he learned, like, we got to process these feelings. We got to walk through it. It's such a beautiful message at the heart of it,

and I loved, I have a 9-year-old son at home, and I loved watching this movie with him. And it was such, I think it was helpful for him to hear, but really more for me to hear, how do I talk to my child about processing feelings like that? And you spend the whole movie being concerned about your daughter when you also have a son who's kind of doing the same thing that your character's

doing, holding all of his feelings high. Yeah, and trying to fix things, yeah. Yeah, and Darcy Carden is also in the movie. And Darcy Carden from The Good Place. I mean, she's so fun and kind. And I mean, you know, like, when you're working with other com- You're so talented, and it's like, when you're working with other comic actors, you feel that you're so amazing.

Your timing is tight. But it's like, you feel that you're so amazing. Let's unpack that for a little bit. Your timing is tight. Let's go. But it's like you have that trust that you can kind of have that comic dance together. And Darcy was perfect. So she plays my sister in the movie. And she's so great in it. And she has my favorite quote in the movie.

She says to you at some point, when you're fretting over your daughter, she says, I think you should stop worrying about the girls who are busy drawing about their pain and worry more about the boys who are ignoring theirs. Yeah. And I thought, that is why... I know. It's also, I mean, if you think about it,

you talk about it on the show all the time, there's a lot of finger pointing. Well, look what they're doing. Look what they're doing. It's like, yeah, let's start pointing the finger back at ourselves. Also, this is a really fun family adventure. It is. It's very funny. Silly movie.

It is very funny. It is a feel-good movie. It is funny. But important messaging. And really timely, if you ask me. Very timely, yeah, yeah. How did it feel to, this is your baby. You've been producing it for, like you said, eight years. It's great, and it's also that feeling of like, uh, take care of my kid. You know, it's because we championed it. Championing it?

Championing? OK, we'll go with that. We'll fix it in post. We'll fix it in post. Thank you. But for so long, and seeing it, even like getting cast together and finally finding financing in the post of it, you just saw the special effects are so specific.

But getting it out there, it's a pretty vulnerable feeling, but I'm so stoked, guys. It's so good. I'm so stoked for people to see it. It's so good. It's so good. Because this movie is about channeling your feelings through art, through drawing, and those drawings coming to life, with things being as polarized as they are right now,

culturally, politically, if you could draw anything that would come to life, what would you choose to draw? Okay, you know what's super sad is, I was just asked this question, and I'm not kidding. The first thing that came to my mind was a McFlurry from McDonald's. Yeah.

And they said, they said, Tony, you can get one of those. And I thought, yeah, do I want a relationship with it? Like, I didn't know what I was trying to do, but that was the first thing. I like a McFlurry, and I'd like to see a McFlurry come to life. In addition to a big hug that hugs the world. Yes. That's me. Thank you.

A big hug that hugs the world. Just a big hug that hugs the world. Yes. That's me. Thank you. A big hug that hugs the world. Just a big hug that hugs the world. I was going to say myself on a unicorn, but I think a big hug that hugs the world. That's a much better answer. Well, here's the- Kind of daunting.

Here's the- Ugh. I'll take it. I'd say we could use it right now. Congratulations on the movie. Here is to a big hug that hugs the world. Thank you. Thank you. I can't is to a big hug that hugs the world. Thank you.

Thank you. I can't go back to giving you a hug. I love it. Sketches and theaters, August 6th, Tony Hales. Thank you. We're gonna take a quick break, but we'll be right back after this. Thanks so much for being here.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going on a production break for August, which was planned months and months ago,

so don't freak out. Have a great summer and we'll see you in September when we can all freak out together. Now here it is, your moment of bed. Critics calling that campaign tone deaf. Others calling out the ad for allegedly being Nazi propaganda. So there you have it, Spoo. Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna go out and buy a pair of those jeans immediately. Explore more shows from The Daily Show Podcast Universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. immediately.