Jimmy Fallon Apologizes For Wearing Blackface In SNL Sketch

Jimmy Fallon wants his critics to know he hears them loud and clear.

The Tonight Show host took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to issue a formal apology after he went viral in the worst way — over a resurfaced Saturday Night Live skit that showed him wearing blackface.

The statement read:

“In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. 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.”

They certainly did!

As you may know, the hashtag #JimmyFallonIsOverParty started trending late Monday night after a clip of the sketch in question started circulating the Twitter-sphere, along with the caption:

“NBC fired Megyn Kelly for mentioning blackface. Jimmy Fallon performed on NBC in blackface.”

The skit, which first aired in 2000 and features SNL alum Darrell Hammond, shows the affable late night talk show host impersonating Rock while wearing dark face makeup and a wig. See for yourself (below):

#jimmyfallonisoverparty if ur trying to see what he did pic.twitter.com/5K2eAH7Vjn

— s????️m???? (@chefboyohdear) May 26, 2020

For those who don’t know, Megyn Kelly’s short-lived morning television run on NBC took a nosedive after she faced severe criticism for a conversation about wearing blackface on Halloween.

While Jimmy’s stint in blackface was brought up by critics on the heels of Kelly’s firing, many social media users apparently hadn’t seen it until this week — making the discovery all the more upsetting for them. Offended Twitterers left responses like:

“Disgusting #JimmyFallonIsOverParty.”

“I’m sorry but this is my first time ever seeing this [and] this is making my heart hurt.”

“No one is asking y’all to cancel @JimmyFallon. However, what we are asking from Jimmy is an acknowledgement to his use of blackface, why did he do it an an apology to black people for donning such a racist, oppressive and downright disgusting overt display of symbolic racism.”

While Fallon may have taken the blame, other users pointed out that there was another guilty party involved: SNL.

One Twitter user wrote:

“So how are we gonna cancel Jimmy Fallon for doing blackface but not cancel Saturday Night Live for letting him do that.”

Fallon isn’t the only public figure to get called out for his use of blackface over the past few years. Jimmy Kimmel has gotten heat for wearing blackface in a 2000 episode of The Man Show, and Sarah Silverman revealed she was fired from a movie after a photo from a 2007 episode of The Sarah Silverman Show resurfaced showing her wearing blackface. In many incidents with comedians this was done to be funny and shocking, with the characters doing it presented as obviously being in the wrong. However, as many critics have stated, this is still technically engaging in the act — and very hurtful out of context.

And of course it’s not just comics; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was infamously revealed to have dressed up in blackface very unironically back when he was a schoolteacher in 2001.

Let’s hope these terrible decisions stay in the past!

[Image via WENN]