On April 14, Josh Gondelman hosted the East Coast edition of the 2024 Writers Guild Awards, and between jokes about the 2023 WGA strike (“As a show of enduring solidarity, I have remained unemployed”) and the big philosophical questions of the last awards season (“Is it okay that I, as a white person, enjoyed American Fiction, or does that mean I didn’t understand it?”), the writer and comedian cut a few lines, referencing one of the great Twitter bits of 2020. Talking about the disastrous year in digital media, Gondelman referenced Vice’s financial troubles, joking that the publication’s situation had grown so dire that “they had to cut people’s severance packages with baby laxative.” Then, amid a smattering of laughs, he added, “I’m sorry, is that joke a little too in the nose? Fine! Apparently no one here likes to party.”
Gondelman’s trysts with the devil’s sugar (or lack thereof) first became a topic of conversation in 2020, when he responded to comedian Matt Koff’s tweet inviting him to try cocaine by saying, “This does seem fun!!!!,” which prompted multiple comedians to attempt to peer pressure Gondelman into trying the drug. The bit culminated in Paul F. Tompkins creating a Change.org petition titled “Get Josh Gondelman to ‘Shovel the Driveway,’” which racked up over 1,000 signatures. Gondelman seemed adamant at the time that the petition would not convince him to try hard drugs; he opted instead to donate $1,000 to the National Harm Reduction Coalition, like some sort of benevolent coward. Since then, people on Twitter continue to reference the drug at Gondelman constantly.
So what does it mean that Gondelman is now pointing at his nostrils on an awards-show stage and chiding the audience for being too uptight to party? Is he finally confirming the ravenous coke habit everyone on Twitter has been speculating about since 2020? More on this story as it develops.
