Jimmy Fallon's Emotional Tonight Show Monologue Addresses Blackface Sketch
Jimmy Fallon has been producing new episodes of The Tonight Show from home for weeks, but he found himself making headlines for reasons other than his surroundings. A Saturday Night Live sketch from 2000 in which Fallon did a blackface impersonation of Chris Rock resurfaced and started making the rounds on social media, resulting in #jimmyfallonisoverparty trending on Twitter. Now, the NBC late-night host has used his Tonight Show monologue to address the blackface sketch on-camera, and he got emotional.
Jimmy Fallon opened his monologue by sharing that he really had to examine himself after the story came out about his Saturday Night Live impression of SNL alum Chris Rock in blackface, then said this:
Initially, Jimmy Fallon addressed the blackface SNL sketch via Twitter, saying that he "made a terrible decision" and was "very sorry" for what he did. His monologue on the June 1 installment of The Tonight Show went into far more detail about his reaction to the Chris Rock impersonation spreading and the question of whether he should address the issue or stay silent.
In the monologue stating that he's "not a racist," Jimmy Fallon also went out of his way to make it clear that he respects Chris Rock. Fallon elaborated on how it felt to address the blackface controversy rather than follow advice and remain silent:
This monologue wasn't the only way that Jimmy Fallon intends to continue addressing current events and protests. Following his comments on the Saturday Night Live blackface sketch, Fallon spoke with NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. At the time of writing, Chris Rock has not commented on the sketch or Fallon's comments.
To see Jimmy Fallon's full statement and his interactions with Derrick Johnson on The Tonight Show, check out the clip below:
Find out if and how Jimmy Fallon continues to address his blackface impersonation of Chris Rock and/or brings in more experts to share their insight on current events with new episodes of The Tonight Show on NBC weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET. Episodes are still being filmed with Fallon socially-distant and based at home.
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Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).