Jimmy Fallon apologizes for old blackface skit after viral backlash

immy Fallon has apologized for donning blackface in a resurfaced 2000 “Saturday Night Live” skit that had many calling to “cancel” him.

The 45-year-old host of “The Tonight Show” issued a statement Tuesday in a tweet and thanked fans for holding him “accountable.”

“In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface,” he wrote. “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.”

Fallon’s 20-year-old sketch went viral overnight after Twitter user @chefboyohdear posted the vintage clip featuring Darrell Hammond and Fallon doing an impersonation of Rock with his face painted brown.

The tweet, which has amassed nearly 962,000 views as of Tuesday, featured the hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty and a caption which read: “NBC fired Megyn Kelly for mentioning blackface. Jimmy Fallon performed on NBC in blackface.”

While backlash over the resurfaced video was swift, fans seemed to be divided over Fallon’s tweet apology.

“It was 20 years ago, it doesn’t matter anymore,” one wrote.

“This was 20 years ago… Cancelled culture needs to chill tf out Y’all do realise that not everything people do and say 20 years before is the same as what they do and say now,” chimed in another.

“Nobody cares about what you did on SNL. It wasn’t offensive, it was funny,” wrote one fan in a response which was lambasted by another. “Who the hell are you to say it wasn’t offensive? It was,” the Twitter user replied.

“How gullible are you? He’s only apologizing now because it got publicized now. He would have carried it to the grave if he could have,” a cynical fan responded.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/26/jimmy-fallon-apologizes-over-2000-snl-blackface-skit/

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