Jimmy Kimmel issued an apology Tuesday for wearing blackface in numerous comedy sketches throughout his career.- "On KROQ radio in the mid-90s, I did a recurring impression of the NBA player Karl Malone. In the late '90s, I continued impersonating Malone on
TV ," Kimmel explained in his statement. - "We hired makeup artists to make me look as much like Karl Malone as possible. I never considered that this might be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being," the host said.
- According to Kimmel, he believes he has "evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years," but was reluctant to apologize publicly.
- The host's statement came after numerous people called him out for the blackface — and reportedly saying the N-word — on Twitter.
Jimmy Kimmel apologized for wearing blackface in comedy sketches on Tuesday, following backlash on social media.
In the statement, the late-night host said he was "reluctant" to address his history of wearing blackface because he "knew doing so would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us."
"That delay was a mistake," Kimmel wrote. "There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke."
The host offered some context for his past actions in his statement. According to Kimmel, in the mid-1990s, he did a recurring impression of NBA player Karl Malone on TV, and used makeup artists to "make me look as much like Karl Malone as possible."
—Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 23, 2020
"I never considered that this might be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being, one that had no more to do with Karl's skin color than it did his bulging muscles and bald head," Kimmel said.
The host also said that he'd done numerous impressions of other
"I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years, and I hope that is evident to anyone who watches my show," said Kimmel at the end of his statement. "I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me. I love this country too much to allow that."
"I won't be bullied into silence by those who feign outrage to advance their oppressive and genuinely racist agendas," he concluded.
Blackface is traced back to racist minstrel shows from the 1800s when white performers would paint their faces black in an effort to make white audiences see Black culture and Black people as inferior. It has continued to have a negative impact on pop culture, appearing in entertainment, media, and fashion well into the 20th and 21st centuries.
Kimmel's apology came after outrage grew on social media about his use of blackface in sketches. Plenty of users called for Kimmel to be "canceled" after the host's impression of Malone circulated on Twitter.
And Kimmel isn't the only late-night host who's come under fire for wearing blackface in past sketches — "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon was also called out recently for wearing blackface on "Saturday Night Live" in 2000.
Fallon apologized after the footage resurfaced in late May, calling his decision to wear blackface in the sketch "unquestionably offensive."
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- Jimmy Fallon apologized after a 2000 clip of him wearing blackface on 'SNL' resurfaced
- Jimmy Fallon addressed his blackface controversy in conversations with NAACP president Derrick Johnson and CNN's Don Lemon