Jimmy Fallon Delivers An Emotional Plea Regarding SNL Blackface Controversy: 'I'm Not A Racist'

Jimmy Fallon is not done apologizing for the mistakes of his past.

The Tonight Show host kicked off his Monday night show by addressing the controversy that landed him in hot water again with fans last week. ICYMI, a resurfaced Saturday Night Live skit showed him wearing blackface while impersonating Chris Rock back in 2000, and it wasn’t long before the #JimmyFallonIsOverParty gained support online.

Only a few days ago, Jimmy quickly issued a formal apology on Twitter where he denounced the behavior and thanked fans for holding him accountable. Well, he did exactly that with a drastically different version of his talk show, which began with some heavy personal reflection from the host:

“I had to really examine myself, really examine myself, in the mirror this week because a story came out about me on SNL doing an impression of Chris Rock in blackface—and I was horrified. Not at the fact that people were trying to cancel me or cancel the show, which is scary enough, but the thing that haunted me the most was: How do I say I love this person? I respect this guy more than I respect most humans. I’m not a racist. I don’t feel this way. And instead, what I kept getting advised was to just stay quiet and to not say anything. And that’s the advice because we’re all afraid.”

Fallon clearly tossed that advice to “not say anything” to the wind! Along with this second, follow-up statement, he continued the show by having open discussions with Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, and CNN‘s Don Lemon about how to take action as an ally and seek justice for the unjust killing of George Floyd. Ch-ch-check out both insightful clips (below):