Jimmy Fallon apologized after a resurrected video of him wearing blackface generated an uproar on social media, despite the fact that the footage had circulated online previously.
A brief video of the “Tonight Show” host mimicking Chris Rock in a “Saturday Night Live” comedy from 2000 went viral on Twitter on Tuesday, accompanied by the hashtag #JimmyFallonIsOverParty.
On Tuesday evening, Fallon replied to the criticism with a tweet. He called wearing blackface a “terrible decision” that was “unquestionably offensive,” and he thanked people who attacked him “for holding me accountable.”
In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this.
I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) May 26, 2020
HuffPost reached out to “SNL” for a comment but did not receive a response right away.
Prior to Fallon’s apology, others asked for the comedian to be “canceled” because of the 20-year-old tape. Others expressed a need for Fallon to provide an explanation, an apology, or even an admission of misconduct.
“I wish; don’t they realize they have a 0% chance of even canceling him?” “This was 20 years ago, and it was nowhere near career-ending,” a user said.
Do you believe Jimmy Fallon’s career should be ruined as a result of this?