Daily Show host Trevor Noah has explained his controversial joke about a possible war between India and Pakistan, saying comedy is how he dealt with even personally traumatic experiences.

Noah caused controversy online with an episode of the show, in which he described a potential war between India and Pakistan as a “most entertaining” Bollywood-style event, complete with singing and dancing numbers on the battlefield. The remark referred to an ongoing flare-up between the two nuclear-armed nations, which involved a direct air engagement of their warplanes for the first time since the 1971 war.

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Some people were angered by the joke, saying it trivialized the grave situation and played on stereotypes in an insulting way. On Saturday, Noah responded to one such critical comment, which said he wouldn’t be joking this way about personal trauma, like the assault on his mother by his abusive stepfather.

The comedian responded to the contrary, saying he joked about this dramatic episode of his life in stand-up shows as a way of coping with the trauma. He added his joke “amazingly” seemed to get more attention online than the conflict itself.

Actually if you watch my stand up you'll see that I did make jokes after my mother was shot in the head. As a comedian I use comedy to process pain and discomfort in my world but I am sorry that this hurt you and others, that's not what I was trying to do. https://t.co/OuVnkHyIfG — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 2, 2019

It's amazing to me that my joke about the conflict in India and Pakistan trended more than the story of the actual conflict itself. Sometimes it seems like people are more offended by the jokes comedians make about an issue than the issue itself. — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 2, 2019

Noah is certainly no stranger to angering people with jokes about acts of violence. Last year, he received a backlash for an old routine about the 2012 Marikana massacre, in which he seemingly defended the South African government’s crackdown on a miner strike, which resulted in almost 50 deaths.

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