David Spade didn’t need a stage to launch into a rant — just a mall tree-lighting ceremony that, in his view, tiptoed around the word “Christmas.”
According to Fox News, during a Sunday episode of his “Fly on the Wall” podcast with Dana Carvey, the comedian said he was stunned to see organizers “consciously” dodge any mention of Christmas at an event meant to celebrate a Christmas tree.
Spade, 61, told listeners he watched the ceremony unfold and couldn’t believe the wording.
“I will say that Christmas is taking a little bit of a beating lately,” he said. “It is December, and I saw the other day there was a tree-lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree in some dopey mall, but it said tree-lighting ceremony, and they were careful not to say the word Christmas during the whole ceremony.”
Carvey immediately reacted: “No.”
“Why?” Spade asked. “So it’s just a tree? … But to consciously avoid that, then what is the tree for? A December to Remember? Is it a Lexus dealership?”
The back-and-forth quickly veered into the duo’s shared disbelief, with both comedians insisting they’d never met anyone of another faith who felt slighted by seeing a Christmas tree.
“I’d say stop that bulls—,” Spade said, as Carvey added, “Everyone loves Santa and the tree and all the trappings.”
The conversation broadened as Carvey, 67, said the holiday has long taken on a secular tone in the United States.
“If you’re of faith, it’s about Christianity,” he said. “But I think at this point in America, it’s just Christmas. It’s a fun holiday.”
Spade pushed back on efforts to police language.
“I don’t like the thought police,” Carvey said, and Spade agreed, adding that he disliked what he saw as growing “anti-Christian feel.”
While Carvey jokingly called Spade a “secular” or “lapsed” Christian, Spade said he preferred “just more spiritual.”
He then suggested Christianity is treated differently from other religions.
“Like is this where we get the hammer? You can’t say that about anyone else,” Spade said. He went on to reference Christian persecution abroad, noting, “This is not the year to be Christian.”
Humanitarian organizations have indeed warned of rising violence in parts of Africa. A June 2025 report from International Christian Concern cited killings, abductions and forced displacement in nations including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
President Donald Trump has also designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” while Pope Leo XIV, the State Department and various public figures have condemned recent attacks.
After the heavier turn, Spade circled back to his original frustration.
“We can call it a Christmas tree,” he said. “I still don’t want to offend people … You’re not allowed to slam someone else’s religion.”
His remarks followed similar backlash in Portland, where the city again hosted its annual tree-lighting event without using the word “Christmas.”
Critics online accused organizers of scrubbing the holiday, though Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office later referred to it explicitly as a “Christmas Tree Lighting” while dismissing the controversy.
