Jimmy Kimmel once pretended to be Snoop Dogg in blackface—and his comments made it even worse
The 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' host Jimmy Kimmel once faced immense backlash for wearing blackface and saying the N-word during a parody! In a 2013 podcast episode, Kimmel confessed that he did an impersonation of the legendary rapper Snoop Dogg for a 1996 comedy Christmas album. At that time, Kimmel even used the N-word several times. In the song acquired by Fox News, Kimmel can be heard referring to “a fat n***** in a sleigh giving s*** away”, as well as a “n***** in the manger”. It has been reported by the media outlet the Christmas album titled 'A Family Christmas In Your A**' was co-produced by Kimmel. In addition to this, Kimmel was also given the credits for nearly all the “comedy material”, featured in the song.
While sharing his thoughts on the controversial track, Kimmel backed up host Adam Carolla's remark that he was 'doing Snoop'. Kimmel went on to say, “This is when Snoop Dogg first came out, hit the scene, and I used to imitate him by only saying, ‘You know what I’m saying?’” Kimmel was then asked, “Jimmy, do you only do black people?" In his response, Kimmel jokingly said, “I prefer them, yes.”
Kimmel later faced calls to apologize after he was seen in blackface during his time on the Comedy Central program 'The Man Show,' which ran from 1999 to 2004. In the show, Kimmel was also seen doing an impersonation of NBA superstar Karl Malone. In addition to this, Kimmel also performed a parody of Oprah Winfrey called 'Oprah Jimfrey.' Back in the day, Kimmel looked at his performances as "impersonations of celebrities and nothing more". Kimmel admitted they were "embarrassing" and dubbed them as "thoughtless moments". Kimmel offered a heartfelt apology "to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the make-up I wore or the words I spoke."
Kimmel was initially reluctant to speak about his comedy sketches. He feared they "would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us." Kimmel shared, "That delay was a mistake." In a statement, Kimmel revealed that he did an impression of Malone on his comedy show in the '90s and even continued to impersonate the basketball player on his television show.
"We hired makeup artists to make me look as much like Karl Malone as possible. I never considered that this might be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being, one that had no more to do with Karl's skin colour than it did his bulging muscles and bald head. I've done dozens of impressions of famous people, including Snoop Dogg, Oprah, Eminem, Dick Vitale, Rosie, and many others. In each case, I thought of them as impersonations of celebrities and nothing more," Kimmel said, according to BBC.
"Looking back, many of these sketches are embarrassing, and it is frustrating that these thoughtless moments have become a weapon used by some to diminish my criticisms of social and other injustices," the talk show host added. Kimmel also stated that he had "evolved and matured" since the 90s. "Thank you for giving me an opportunity to explain and to those I've disappointed, I am sorry," he concluded.
