Source: Getty Images / Getty
Just as Jimmy Kimmel decided to take a break from his late night talk show, audio in which he used racial slurs in the mid-’90s has resurfaced.
In the audio clip, posted by DailyMail, the famed host can be heard mimicking Snoop Dogg in a song titled “Christmastime in the LBC.” Full of foul language, the n-word is used multiple times, and while it cannot be confirmed that it was in fact Kimmel on the record, in 2003 Kimmel admitted to his involvement in that very impersonation, Just Jared states.
Kimmel is also under fire for impersonating Black celebrities, in blackface, in the late ’90s. He has since apologized, in a statement obtained by CNN, saying…
“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. 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.”
“On KROQ radio in the mid-90s, I did a recurring impression of the NBA player Karl Malone,” he continued, adding “In the late 90s, I continued impersonating Malone on TV. 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 color 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. 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.”
