Neil deGrasse Tyson's mass shooting tweet backlash is proof he shouldn't be the only famous scientist on TV

Indiewire

From sexual harassment allegations to his tweet Sunday minimizing the Dayton and El Paso mass shootings, Tyson's rock star scientist reputation has taken a hit. "None of this has changed Tyson’s underlying value in bringing scientific concepts to the masses, but the backlash is a clear reminder that he shouldn’t be the only famous scientist on TV," says Eric Kohn. Sure, there are other popular TV scientists like Bill Nye. "But Nye has yet to achieve the kind of stardom Tyson has accumulated in recent years," says Kohn. "The same could be said for other science figures with some modicum of fame, such as Michio Kaku, Phil Plate, and Brian Cox. But none of them have captured the cheery, inviting tone that made Tyson so appealing in the first place. He’s the only member of his field who has become a kind of pop culture object himself, with cameos in everything from Family Guy to Ice Age. He may come across as smarmy, but his popularity as a signifier of science is an end unto itself: He keeps the field in the public eye even when reducing it to a punchline."

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• Tyson's tweet crossed the line from “painfully unfunny cringe sh*t” to “disingenuous fodder for pro-gun talking points"
• Tyson was slammed for his apology, which some deemed a "non-apology apology"