- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Sattwik Biswal
Television host Jay Leno said he had committed a “legitimate wrong” and apologised for more than a decade of jokes about Asian Americans.
The apology by Leno, the former host of US television’s popular “Tonight Show,” comes after a long campaign by the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA).
There is a renewed attention to the hate crimes against the community after last week’s shooting in Atlanta left eight people dead, six being Asian-American women.
According to MANAA, between 2002 and 2012, Leno made at least nine documented jokes about Koreans or Chinese people eating dogs or cats.
The group has been seeking an apology since 2002 and said yesterday (24) that it received one from Leno in February over a call.
“At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless,” Leno said
in the call, a statement issued by MANAA that it said has been agreed with Leno. “I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them.
“At the time, there was a prevailing attitude that some group is always complaining about something, so don’t worry about it. Whenever we received a complaint, there would be two sides to the discussion: either ‘We need to deal with this’ or ‘Screw ’em if they can’t take a joke.’
“Too many times I sided with the latter even when in my heart I knew it was wrong. That is why I am issuing this apology. I do not consider this particular case to be another example of cancel culture but a legitimate wrong that was done on my part,” Leno added.
MANAA said Leno’s apology has resolved the group’s grievances with the comedian.
Leno, 70, hosted “The Tonight Show” for more than 20 years until he bowed out in 2014. Later this year, he is expected to host a revival of the 1950s radio and TV quiz show “You Bet Your Life.”
