It looks like Mr. Moral High Ground just took another fall.
That’s right, Jimmy Kimmel, who has suddenly appointed himself as the moral compass of America, must have forgotten about his past before he climbed up on his high horse.
But we didn’t.
From his days hosting the very sexist and demeaning Man Show to now, he’s done untold awful things. Like this video of him awkwardly groping a teen. Yikes.
And now this.
Get ready for one of the most racist videos you’ve seen in quite some time. Yes, that’s right, this is Jimmy Kimmel in blackface doing a horribly racist impersonation of Karl Malone:
As if that weren’t bad enough, it wasn’t an isolated incident.
Kimmel took heavy heat for what many deemed racist jokes while hosting the Oscars just this year. From Refinery29:
Jimmy Kimmel had a few funny zingersthroughout his Oscars hosting gig. There was the bit where he tweeted at Donald Trump, and some ha-ha moments when he made snacks rain down on the audience. But overall, many of the late night personality’s jokes landed with a thud — especially because more than a few of them were at the expense of people of color.
Most glaringly was that moment where he lifted the adorable eight-year-old star of Lion, Sunny Pawar, in the air to recreate The Lion King. A rich white man lifting up a brown child — one of few to ever make their way inside the Academy Awards show — in a nod to a movie set in Africa? Not the best idea, Jimmy.
Perhaps less noticeable but even more offensive was a consistent narrative throughout the night: Kimmel’s tendency to either botch the non-typical names of the minorities in attendance, or his tendency to straight up make fun of them.
When he met an Asian woman — one of the tourists involved in the-tour-bus-skit-that-didn’t-quite-work — and she told him her name was “Yulerie,” Kimmel looked so dumbfounded that she had to clarify that it’s pronounced Yulerie, which rhymes with “jewelry.” After, when Kimmel asked another one of the tourists their name and they said, “Patrick,” Kimmel quipped, “Now that’s a name.” Um, what? So it’s acceptable in front of millions of viewers to tell a woman of color that her name isn’t as good as a more American-sounding man’s name? Not cool, Jimmy.
That wasn’t it, though. After Muslim actor Mahershala Ali accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor and thanked his wife for giving birth to their daughter just four days earlier, Kimmel took the opportunity to take another jab, this time asking what Ali decided to name his daughter. After all, it can’t be something “normal,” like “Amy,” he joked. Yes, joked. To the first ever Black Muslim Oscar winner — who had just tearfully shared with the world his joy over both the Oscar honor and being a proud new dad.
Wow, Jimmy, wow.
Twitter almost universally found his hosting gig very racist. Take a look:
Jesus Christ Kimmel can you stop making fun of people's names, these people aren't even the famous ones
— Nicole Chung | @nicolechung on Bluesky (@nicolesjchung) February 27, 2017
Ooooh, Jimmy Kimmel, this is straight racist. #lionking #Oscars
— Tanya O'Debra (@tanyaodebra) February 27, 2017
My crew's group chat in response to @jimmykimmel lifting Sunny Pawar from Lion like he the damn lion in Lion King on the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/YXgZQ7I467
— Katori Hall (@KatoriHall) February 27, 2017
Yeah, Jimmy, you might want to stop lecturing Trump and focus on your own behavior!
Who agrees?
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