Another late-night Jimmy is apologizing for blackface. First Jimmy Fallon, now Jimmy Kimmel. (The more formal late-night James, Corden, remains unscathed for now.) The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, who’s currently on an unrelated summer break, issued a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, June 24, saying, “I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke,†and speaking out against those who “feign outrage to advance their oppressive and genuinely racist agendas.†“I have long been reluctant to address this, as I knew doing so would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us,†Kimmel said. “That delay was a mistake. There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke.â€
Kimmel is specifically apologizing for a recurring impersonation of basketball player Karl Malone in the late 1990s. “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 color than it did his bulging muscles and bald head,†he continued. “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.†Looking back, he slaps himself on the wrist, simply calling the impressions “embarrassing.†“I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years, and I hope that is evident to anyone who watches my show,†he writes before making it weird again. “I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me. I love this country too much to allow that.â€