Some say a great test of character lies in how we respond to criticism, but yesterday formerly cult, now almost mainstream comedian Louis C.K. proved his own strength of character in his response to Rolling Stone's enormous praise of his comedy.

Appearing on The Daily Show in conversation with John Oliver, C.K. lashed out at the publication despite their well-established adoration of his work.

It seems C.K. is well and truly in the camp that is against the generally music focused publication's decision to put Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of their latest issue and no amount of acclaim from the publication will change his mind.

Watch the interview below. The Rolling Stone comments come in at the 4.30 mark.

The majority of the interview focuses on C.K.'s part in the new Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine, but at the end of the interview Oliver mentions Rolling Stone's adoration of C.K.'s work.

“Rolling Stone has called you both the funniest comedian in American and a jerk-off genius. Which title would you like on your headstone?”

To which C.K. quickly responds:

“Well they put that kid on the cover that blew up Boston, so fuck them. I don't care.”

Here's Rolling Stone's piece which heralds C.K. as the “Funniest Person Now”.

Bomber Story To Run In Aus Rolling Stone

UPDATE: Today Mathew Coyte, Editor In Chief for the Australian Rolling Stone told theMusic.com.au that they would be syndicating the controversial 'Boston Bomber' story, but said it won't be appearing on the cover.

Coyte, who supports the US cover choice, said, “Regardless of what you think of the cover, the story is one of the best in-depth pieces I've read.”

While the US Rolling Stone has built itself as a news magazine, the Australian edition remains a music and entertainment mag, he said, and it would be unlikely for the Australian edition to run a political cover unless there were extraordinary circumstances. The last he can recall was Paul Keating.

“I think they've got a different remit to us, they're proudly a news mag,” Coyte said. “I think it's unfair for people to change the rules about what should be and what should not be in the news…Many of the attacks [on the mag] have been from the media, the same media that have been lazy and are jealous of the recourses [Rolling Stone US] puts towards investigations.”

In his defence of the cover, senior Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi pointed out that The New York Times used the same image on a May issue of the paper.

“But there was no backlash against the Times, because everyone knows the Times is a news organization. Not everyone knows that about Rolling Stone,” he wrote. “So that's your entire controversy right there – it's OK for the Times, not OK for Rolling Stone, because many people out there understandably do not know that Rolling Stone is also a hard-news publication.”
Scott Fitzsimons