Jimmy Kimmel, the famous late-night host, publicly apologized for his blackface impressions during the 1990s on June 23, 2020. He was referring to the impressions of black celebrities including NBA star Karl Malone. Kimmel says that he is undoubtedly late to come out and apologize, but there is a reason for that. It is because he wanted to avoid declaring an unsaid victory to his detractors. He was scared of losing until now, but it is not the same anymore. In his public apology, Kimmel clearly stated that he is ashamed of hurting people for wearing such makeup and speaking in a derogatory way.
It seems that Jimmy Kimmel’s apology is a part of the continuous reckoning by the entertainment industry following the brutal murder of George Floyd. It is a part of the massive awareness campaign that is happening in support of Black Americans across the country against police oppression, and racism. On June 22, 2020, a drastic step was taken when four full episodes of 30 Rock, a famous comedy series was taken down. It is because of the characters sporting fake black faces for comedy purposes which may be hurtful for a lot of people out there.
Recently, Sean Hannity of Fox News came out in criticism of Kimmel’s portrayal of Malone, a black character. Hannity was just one amongst several people who came out with their opinion about the same show. It was Kimmel who started portraying a character of Malone on Radio first, bringing it to Television on Comedy Central. Both Hannity and Kimmel engaged in a social media war a couple of years back when the former objected Kimmel’s portrayal of Melania Trump. The host joked about Melania’s accent on National Television which also sounded pretty offensive.
Jimmy Kimmel being attacked by FOX News
Fox News created a special report regarding Kimmel on June 22. They mentioned how he used common slurs against Black Americans back in 1996. The report also consists of every incident on which Jimmy Kimmel had tried to imitate the voice of a black celebrity. As a reply to this Kimmel said that he could never imagine that his take on healthy comedy would create such a stir. According to him, none of his content was meant for mockery. He adds that he accepts that the sketches and his other creations are pretty embarassing.
Those are simply frustrating and shows that he made no sense back then. However, he does not encourage the fact that such incidents that took place years back have now become weapons to demean him. Kimmel seems upset about the fact that no one is acknowledging his content criticizing social agendas. The host says that he did not apologize before for the same reason. He was aware of the fact that several people associate an apology with weakness.
Kimmel seems unaffected
Jimmy Kimmel says that he is well aware that this demeaning campaign won’t stop anytime soon. However, his love for the country will not allow him to tolerate any kind of harassment. Moreover, it is by people who want to fight below the belt. He feels that it is nothing but an agenda of guilty people. All of them are trying to hide their dirty politics, outrages, and racist agendas. On the contrary, Kimmel is quite a celebrity and a vital part of ABC. He was the choice for hosting the latest Emmy Awards. Besides, he is also the replacement of Regis Philbin for the famous show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It is one of the most popular shows on the ABC Network. The ABC officials did not give out any statement regarding the entire controversy till now.