Jay Leno apologized for a series of jokes he made at the expense of the Korean and Chinese communities, especially racist stereotypes about what Koreans and Chinese eat.
“When I made these jokes, I really thought they were harmless. I was mocking our enemy in North Korea and, like most jokes, there was a touch of truth in them, ”said the comedian and former nightly TV presenter in a Zoom conference call last month with members of the Media Action Network for Asian American, according to a MANAA statement sent on Wednesday.
“At the time, the attitude that some group is always complaining about something prevailed, so don’t worry about it,” he said, according to the note. “Whenever we received a complaint, there would be two sides to the discussion: ‘We need to deal with this’ or ‘Damn it if they don’t understand a joke’.”
The former host of the “Tonight Show” said he did not consider this an example of a culture of cancellation, but rather a display of what he called a “legitimate error” on his part.
“I often sided with the latter” – meaning the “screw it” side – “even when I knew in my heart that it was wrong,” he said in the statement.
Leno’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Guy Aoki, founding president of MANAA, said in Wednesday’s statement that Leno would never make racist jokes about black eating habits.
“However, incorrectly inferring that most Koreans or Chinese regularly eat ‘man’s best friend’ is worse,” he said, “because it encourages racial hatred against Asian Americans, since most people make no distinction. between Asians and Asian Americans “
Leno’s story with anti-Asian jokes was highlighted after Gabrielle Union – an “America’s Got Talent” judge when Leno appeared as a guest judge – was fired from “AGT” after just one season and then claimed a racist and toxic existed on the show.
Union’s allegations, which included an allegation that Leno saw a photo of Judge Simon Cowell with dogs and said it looked like something you would see “on the menu of a Korean restaurant,” prompted NBC Entertainment to open an investigation. The union and the network reached a “friendly settlement” for their dispute last year, but Leno was not mentioned.
“NBC Entertainment appreciates the important concerns raised by Gabrielle Union and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive work environment, where people from all backgrounds can be treated with respect,” says a joint statement released at the time by Union and the network. .
Leno, for his part, said in Wednesday’s statement that he expected the Asian American community to accept his apology and added: “I hope I can live up to their expectations in the future.”