Yesterday, Megyn Kelly took some time during her NBC show to pose a bizarre question regarding a white person wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume: “But what is racist?†During last night’s Late Night, Seth Meyers brought out writer Amber Ruffin to entertain Kelly’s defense of what’s been understood to be, of course, extremely racist for decades. “It’s not racist on Halloween, it’s racist every day,†she said. “There is no magical day where you can wear blackface with no repercussions! Unless all of your friends are white, and I’m guessing all of Megyn Kelly’s friends are white.â€
“Megyn Kelly said ‘Blackface wasn’t racist when I was a kid.’ You’re 47! Racism wasn’t invented 40 years ago — 40 years ago they were just getting into the swing of it, baby!†Ruffin continued, later adding, “You may think the meanest thing I could do is call Megyn Kelly’s words racist, but really, the meanest thing I did was tell everyone she’s 47. Which, if you round up, is 50. She’s 50, tell everybody. I’m kidding! She’s 60.†Noting that Kelly had no black panelists present during her blackface discussion to enlighten her regarding how it’s impossible to wear blackface that doesn’t ignore the racist context in which it was introduced in the U.S., Ruffin added, “But honestly, you shouldn’t need a black panelist to explain to you shit you should’ve figured out 57 years ago. For someone with a morning show, Megyn Kelly, you sure are late as hell.â€