An old tweet by South African comedian Trevor Noah has resurfaced online, sparking renewed controversy just days after his pointed remarks about US President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The backlash follows Noah’s appearance as host of the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, which marked his sixth and final time leading the ceremony.
During his monologue, Noah made comments that linked Trump to Epstein, a reference that reportedly prompted threats of a defamation lawsuit from the former president’s camp.
As the debate escalated, social media users began revisiting Noah’s past posts, unearthing a 2012 tweet that quickly went viral due to its sensitive subject matter.
In the tweet, Noah wrote: “People who have children should be arrested for tempting child molesters”.
The post, now widely shared without its original framing, has drawn sharp reactions.
However, at the time it was written, the tweet was part of a satirical thread using the hashtag #Swazirules, mocking a controversial stance taken by authorities in Swaziland, now eSwatini.
Police had threatened to arrest women for wearing “revealing” clothing such as miniskirts, arguing that it could “tempt” men into committing rape.
Noah continued the satire in similar posts, writing: “Arrest people with nice things for provoking robbers!” and “If someone steps on your foot, apologise for putting your foot underneath theirs”.
Despite the context, the resurfaced tweet about minors has triggered fierce debate online.
Some users accused Noah of poor judgment, while others defended him, arguing that the joke was clearly aimed at exposing the absurdity of victim-blaming narratives.
One X user reacted angrily, writing: “Are you a pedophile? @Trevornoah”.
Another came to the comedian’s defence, saying: “To the contrary. This was in response to the Eswatini government telling girls not to wear short dresses to avoid ‘tempting’ men. Here is the thread of tweets that he posted under that hashtag. Context is everything.”
X user’s screenshot of Trevor Noah’s old tweets
Others were less forgiving, with one post reading: “This should be grounds for an investigation.”
Another defender pushed back against the outrage, writing: “If you don’t know the contexts of this STAY AWAY FROM IT With yall 7 IQ”.