Watch: Kimmel Used Blackface, Mocked Black Man But Still Has ABC Show
Roseanne Barr is out of a job — as well she should be. What she had to say about Valerie Jarrett was insensitive at best and beyond disgusting at worst. Apologizing was the very least she could do.
However, one thing rang clear after Barr’s firing — namely, the media’s hypocrisy when it comes to Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel is one of the most celebrated men in late night, in part because he’s very much a member of the liberal elite. He says what they think, and says it from one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. He says it on his nightly monologues. He says it during interviews.
Yet, Kimmel has a very different past — one that he’s never apologized for. Before he landed his late-night gig, he was one of the hosts and people behind “The Man Show,” a turn-of-the-millennium program that hasn’t aged well in the era of #MeToo and political correctness.
We’ve highlighted some of Kimmel’s other cringe-inducing antics before, but on this occasion, we’d like to point out yet another skit — this one done in blackface — which he’s never been held to account for.
The skit involved Karl Malone, then a player for the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Malone was known to speak his mind on a number of subjects, often without a filter, and that provided the media with a but of humor.
However, this bizarre sketch involving Malone and what he believes about aliens — and namely, where they probe — goes a bit too far in mocking not only Malone but also his manner of speaking in a way that could very obviously be considered racist.
Has Kimmel apologized for it, though? Of course not, even though it’s minstrelsy through and through.
Take a look:
Yes, “white people being deducted by alien” and “that’s a d— thing.” Hilarious. And by hilarious, I mean racist.
Do you think Jimmy Kimmel should apologize for this skit?
Kimmel, by the way, gets paid $15 million a year, according to CNBC. Yet, he hasn’t apologized for this kind of thing, or for any of the sexual harassment he engaged in on the old show.
In fact, it’s not like he’s stopped this kind of behavior. Earlier this year he was forced to apologize after using homophobic remarks in a debate against Sean Hannity on Twitter.
At no time did Kimmel face any official censure for any of this. ABC didn’t suspend him or dock his pay, despite the fact that what he did was pretty awful and seemingly worthy of an official response.
So while Barr was vilified for her remark — perhaps deservedly so — Kimmel got off scot-free. It just goes to show that in Hollywood, what you do isn’t as important as what your politics are.
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