Jimmy Fallon Apologizes for Wearing Blackface on SNL: 'There Is No Excuse'
Jimmy Fallon has publicly apologized after video of a Saturday Night Live sketch with him wearing blackface went viral on social media.
“In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface,” Fallon said in a tweet on Tuesday. “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.”
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During an SNL episode that originally aired in 2000, Fallon — then a cast member of the NBC sketch show — did an impersonation of comedian Chris Rock while wearing dark face makeup to resemble Rock. (Darrell Hammond played talk show host Regis Philbin in the sketch.) The sketch resurfaced Monday night in a tweet that quickly went viral; the hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty soon began trending as well.
Fallon left SNL in 2004 and later took over as host of NBC’s venerable Tonight Show, which he has hosted since 2014. When reached by our sister site Variety, NBC has no comment on the resurfaced video.
Watch video of Fallon’s SNL blackface sketch below:
#jimmyfallonisoverparty if ur trying to see what he did pic.twitter.com/5K2eAH7Vjn
— s🅰️m🐀 (@chefboyohdear) May 26, 2020
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