Comedian Jay Leno has apologized for past racist jokes he made about the Asian community.
As recently as 2019, on the set of “America’s Got Talent,” the comedian made fun of Koreans eating dog meat.
“At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless,” he said during a Zoom call. with Guy Aoki, leader of Media Action Network for Asian Americans. “I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them.”
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Leno added, “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.”
“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. MANAA has been very gracious in accepting my apology,” he continued.
I this an acceptable apology or is it too little to late?
