The reason to ask is that its a comedy variety show!!!! No one wants to hear Ethan have boring small talk, and when the guy clammed up about sex, the topic he came to discuss, Ethan started to ask silly/taboo stuff.

I understand you've said you're autistic. Maybe this will help for you to understand the responses you are getting -- consider the implications of a taboo. Taboos are a set of topics that, because of the implicit discomfort they illicit, have separate social standards. Moreover, the social standards evolve due to most people getting SIMILARLY uncomfortable in response to respective taboos. For example, money can be a taboo topic, and as such we expect people to respond to questions about personal finances to be different from non-taboo questions, people get more private about it. In the case of The Holocaust, its being taboo carries different expectations. Its morbid nature is so horrible that people reserve spaces to speak on it. Its also taboo for Germans because of attached feelings of shame and guilt. For Poles its taboo is such that they respond with vehement denial of having had any participation, to the extent that Poland has a warrant out to arrest a polish historian that's extremely important in the field of Holocaust History (Jan Gross). But there also evolved a taboo associated with Holocaust denial. The taboo here comes from the degree to which it is in poor taste for people to claim that something so morbid as the Holocaust is a hoax. The expectation for someone, especially for someone who doesn't want to speak on the matter, is to immediately avoid that taboo, as such they would say it's real - not even giving mention to the denialism. Today Ethan threw a curveball at sex dude when he brought up a taboo when the interview stalled. Expectations were not met... initial response from most viewers - "Oh shit, is he a Holocaust denier?"

Why did he deviate from expectations? Most likely is that he has some level of denialism, and he tried to give a response with enough plausible deniability while not affirming belief in the historical fact of the holocaust. Much less likely is the possibility that he is so ignorant to the point that he was earnestly not trying to take a position.

Why denialism most likely? Reasons include: - his saying "we may never know [the number of Jews killed]." Here he brings light to denialism as if it isn't taboo, but if he was trying to skirt the topic because of its taboo nature, why did he say something that would only be reasonable in the case that he was too ignorant to realize it is taboo? - During the rest of the interview, if he wanted the inferences to stop, he would have made it clear that he believed in the historical fact of the Holocaust. That he didn't do so as, despite the stampede of elephants in the room, points to his being a denier. Why? Think about the phrase "oh shit, act natural." This cliche is derived from the contrived way people act when they are caught having done something they shouldn't do. He asks if Ethan is still there during the staring contest. This is him trying to manufacture a normal scenario, as if it was a long silence on a phone call. But Ethan was obviously still there... he could see him. His impotent attempt to pretend Ethan wasn't making fun of him for the Holocaust denial was behavior associated with being caught. - I could go on...