On Sunday night, Comedy Central aired Hannibal Buress’ newest standup special, titled “Animal Furnace.”

In his hour-long performance, Buress discussed a variety of issues, including strip clubs, Facebook messaging and ex-girlfriends.

He also dedicated a segment of his act to The Daily Eastern News, criticizing a March 2009 article written as a preview for his upcoming appearance at the university.

Moments later, the Internet was buzzing. A simple Google search provided a plethora of forums, Twitter accounts and comedy sites dedicated to Buress’ comments, all with their own remarks about the integrity of The DEN.

After delving further into Buress’s comments, we found a Chicago Tribune review of a show Buress did in July of last year, during which Buress made similar comments about The DEN.

It became increasingly clear that Buress has included this type of commentary in his performance for a considerable length of time, and as a publication, we feel that such criticism is unwarranted.

In our original article, our reporter chose to include the price range allotted to the University Board for the event. Buress criticized this choice, essentially calling our actions unprofessional.

What Buress failed to recognize is that the budget for the event was made possible through student funding.

As a publication, transparency is a vital function of our reporting, and we believe that informing Eastern students of how their funds are appropriated is imperative to our goals.

By including how much the University Board was paying Buress, The DEN was following the same protocol by which we might cover a Student Senate or Pension Board meeting.

Buress further discredited his diatribe against Eastern when he mentioned his antics during the interview with our reporter.

Buress claimed that, when bored during interviews, he sometimes lies to reporters or exaggerates his responses.

During his act, Buress admits to telling our reporter that his performances include jokes related to “personal stories, current events, the streets and even food.” Buress then proceeded to mock The DEN for including this comment.

However, the blame for such a portrayal lies explicitly on Buress. If he did not wish for us to include that he talks about “the streets” in his act, he should not have said it in his interview.

We attempted to write an honest and legitimate portrayal of Buress, and it is not The DEN’s fault that he made such a venture difficult by lying and exaggerating.

Buress also criticized the article’s comments about how his race added diversity to the show’s lineup. However, these comments were not representative of The DEN, but of those serving on the University Board at the time.

We will acknowledge that Buress’ criticism of the phrase “comedic jokes” was justified. Not omitting the phrase was a basic editing error on our part.

However, it should also be understood that we are not a perfect organization. The DEN is comprised of students, and although we always strive to operate at our highest potential, occasional mistakes might happen, and we will always try to learn from them.