Jimmy Kimmel apologizes for blackface episode
NEW YORK — Jimmy Kimmel apologized Tuesday for his 1990s blackface impressions of NBA player Karl Malone and other Black celebrities, but said his delay in addressing the subject came in part to avoid handing a victory to his foes.
“I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke,” the ABC late-night star said.
It’s part of the entertainment world’s continuing reckoning triggered by the protests against police treatment of Black Americans. On Monday, four episodes of the 2006-2013 comedy 30 Rock were pulled from circulation because they featured characters performing in blackface.
Kimmel’s impersonation of Malone, which he started on radio and then brought to television on Comedy Central, was criticized by Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, among others. The two men feuded on air and online two years ago when Hannity objected to a Kimmel joke about Melania Trump’s accent.
Kimmel said that he had never considered his Malone skits would be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being, “one that had no more to do with Karl’s skin colour than it did his bulging muscles and bald head.”
He also said he didn’t consider his impersonations of Blacks in racial terms.
Kimmel made his announcement as he is beginning a summer-long vacation. He’s an important figure at ABC; he was just named host of this fall’s Emmy Awards and he has taken over Regis Philbin’s role for the network’s summertime remake of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
ABC had no comment about his statement.
The 30 Rock episodes, which now appear in syndication, were pulled at the request of series creator and star Tina Fey, who apologized for “the pain they have caused.”