Jeremy Nell

For the rapper Jerm, see Jeremy Davis.
Jeremy Nell
BornJeremy Talfer Nell
1979 (age 44–45)
Cape Town, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Area(s)Cartoonist
Pseudonym(s)Jerm
Notable works
Jerm Warfare
jermdraws.com

Jeremy Talfer Nell (born 1979) is a South African cartoonist who writes under the pen name Jerm. In 2020, his public page was removed by Facebook after repeatedly violating the social network's policies against hate speech.[1] He was previously requested to retract a homophobic statement made on another social network, Twitter.[2]

Early life and education

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Jeremy Talfer Nell was born in 1979[3] in Cape Town, South Africa. Nell attended Fairmont High School.[4] After graduating, Nell went to study art and sculpture at the University of Cape Town but failed the course and dropped out.[5][6]

Career

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Nell became a cartoonist in November 2005, after being retrenched.[7][5] Nell did not complete formal art training.[6]

Nell's first commercially published work and nationally syndicated comic strip Urban Trash (first published November 2005), ended 27 June 2008.[8][9][10]

In 2010, Nell became the first political cartoonist for the newly launched The New Age, a pro-ANC daily newspaper. He was dismissed in 2012.[11][12]

In 2012, Nell became the first political cartoonist for Eyewitness News.[13][14] That year he cited Zapiro and Quentin Blake as being among his favourite cartoonists.[4]

In 2013, Nell became the first political cartoonist for the eNCA television network.[15][16]

In February 2014, Nell voiced his support for David Bullard when Bullard donated to a rape charity (who returned his donation) after being criticised for accusing rape survivor and activist Michelle Solomon of having faked her rape.[17]

In December 2014, Nell was forced to apologise for making a homophobic remark online. After receiving heavy criticism for a tweet regarding the trial of Shrien Dewani, during which the prosecution heard that Dewani was bisexual, Nell apologised and retracted his statement.[18][19][20]

In January 2020, after Democratic Alliance chairperson Helen Zille shared a controversial racial cartoon created by Nell, Facebook closed Nell's public page, which had nearly 60,000 followers. Nell said he had previously violated the site's rules against hate speech.[21] According to Mail & Guardian critic Christopher McMichael, Nell's political cartoons portray black politicians as "baying for white genocide" and reveal crypto-fascist ideas about racial intelligence.[22]

Nell worked for the South African Institute of Race Relations's online publication The Daily Friend between 2019 and 2021.[23][24][25][26]

Nell joined TNT Radio in 2022 and hosts his own show. Jeremy Nell

Publishing and awards

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Penguin Books have published two cartoon collections by Nell, Jerm Warfare (2013) and Comedy Club (2014).[27][28][29] Additionally, some of his work features in (and on the front cover of) the 2009 edition of the South African political cartooning annual Don't Joke: A Year in Cartoons, as well as in the 2010 edition, Just For Kicks.[30][31]

Nell won the national 2011 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Cartoon of the Year award for his cartoon Africa 2.0.[32][33]

The Mail & Guardian named Nell as one of their "Top 200 Young South Africans" in 2012.[34]

Nell was a finalist at the 2014 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Facebook shuts down cartoonist's page after Zille storm on Twitter". Times Live.
  2. ^ "Cartoonist in hot water over 'homophobic' Dewani tweet". News24.
  3. ^ Verster, Francois (2010). A critique of the Rape of Justicia, with emphasis on seven cartoons by Zapiro (2008–2010) (PDF) (MPhil). University of Stellenbosch. p. 53. Retrieved 1 June 2017. Jeremy Talfer Nell (born 1979), and Zapiro are carrying on the work of the liberal cartoonist...
  4. ^ a b "The end of freedom of speech? The cartoonist's plight..." News24. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Game Changer: Jeremy 'Jerm' Nell". Men's Health. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b "EWN contracts a new Jerm". Eyewitness News. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017. Jerm, whose real name is Jeremy Nell, says he started drawing cartoons after he 'flunked art and sculpture' at university.
  7. ^ "10 Questions for Cartoonist Jeremy Nell aka Jerm – South Africa Portfolio Travel Blog". portfoliocollection.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Jeremy Nell ends strip, begins 'The Biggish Five' The Daily Cartoonist". dailycartoonist.com. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Marketing and Media in South Africa". bizcommunity.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  10. ^ Administrator. "Centre for Comic, Illustrative and Book Arts". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  11. ^ "South African Political Cartoonist Fired for Being Political". Public Radio International. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Jeremy Nell fired from New Age because of 'political judgements or statements' The Daily Cartoonist". dailycartoonist.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  13. ^ "JERM joins EWN". africartoons.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Jerm – Inaugural Cartoon". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  15. ^ "South African cartoonist "Jerm" joins eNCA network The Daily Cartoonist". dailycartoonist.com. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  16. ^ "Jerm Switches Channels". africartoons.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  17. ^ Shortridge, Laura (July 2014). "Twitter Wars" (PDF). Rhodes Journalism Review. Rhodes University. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2017. It is therefore interesting to take a look at the next controversy, related directly to this one, involving Bullard, as here he found far more outspoken supporters, including previously mentioned Ivo Vegter and political cartoonist Jerm.
  18. ^ Ndlovu, Andile (9 December 2014). "Toon man's 'kak' tweet flames out". The Times. Retrieved 18 August 2017. AWARD-WINNING cartoonist Jeremy Nell was yesterday forced into an apology after his reaction to the Shrien Dewani verdict fell flat on Twitter.
  19. ^ Roberts, Scott (9 December 2014). "Cartoonist apologies for anti-gay tweet about Shrien Dewani". PinkNews. Retrieved 18 August 2017. A South African cartoonist has apologised for making anti-gay comments on Twitter in response to the Shrien Dewani verdict.
  20. ^ "Cartoonist in hot water over 'homophobic' Dewani tweet". News24. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2017. Cape Town – A cartoonist landed in hot water on Monday evening after his offensive tweet about Shrien Dewani.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Facebook shuts down cartoonist's page after Zille storm on Twitter". TimesLIVE. 5 January 2020.
  22. ^ McMichael, Christopher (9 January 2020). "A cultural war waged by a cartoonist". The Mail & Guardian. Jerm is hardly a paragon of anti-authoritarian values. Rather, he is a raging bundle of Donald Trump-style reactionary derangement yet to meet a dubious conspiracy theory or white supremacist dog whistle he doesn't like.
  23. ^ "Why We Are Happy For Jerm To Draw For Us". South African Institute of Race Relations. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  24. ^ "90th Annual Report" (PDF). The South African Institute of Race Relations. p. 6. Retrieved 25 April 2021. Policy Fellows and commissioned columnists... Jeremy Nell
  25. ^ "Jerm Archives". Daily Friend. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Institute of Race Relations". Institute of Race Relations.
  27. ^ "Comedy Club". penguinbooks.co.za. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  28. ^ "Nik Rabinowitz Joined Jerm for the Launch of Comedy Club at The Book Lounge". Penguin SA @ Books LIVE. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  29. ^ "Jerm Warfare". penguinbooks.co.za. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  30. ^ "Book Launch: Don't Joke: A Year in Cartoons edited by Mason and Curtis". Jacana @ Books LIVE. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  31. ^ "Double Launch of Cartoon Collections Just for Kicks! and What's So Funny? at the Book Lounge". Jacana @ Books LIVE. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  32. ^ "amaBhungane wins Vodacom's best feature award". Mail & Guardian. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  33. ^ "TNA's Jeremy Nell wins Vodacom cartoon award". The New Age. South Africa. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  34. ^ Deepdesign. "Jeremy "Jerm" Nel". Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  35. ^ "Finalists of 2014 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards". Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via Scribd.
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