The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon is facing backlash after a 20-year-old video of him in blackface resurfaced online. The Saturday Night Live skit, which aired in 2000, sees then-cast member Fallon impersonating SNL alum Chris Rock and wearing dark face makeup. And because of this, the Twitter hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty began trending, with users calling out Fallon over the racist skit which also features former SNL cast member Darrell Hammond.
This isn't the first time that controversial comments or a clip from years ago has resurfaced on social media and forced the subject to address it. This famously happened two years ago with James Gunn being fired from Disney, though he was later rehired. And while Fallon's blackface sketch is notably different than social media comments, they fall along the same lines of uproar amongst fans online.
The Jimmy Fallon blackface controversy began with a video on Twitter with excerpts of the SNL skit with Fallon impersonating Chris Rock on Regis Philbin’s (Hammond) talk show, as well as the statement: “NBC fired Megyn Kelly for mentioning blackface. Jimmy Fallon performed on NBC in blackface.” No official video of the segment is available, as the network NBC appears to have erased it from the SNL website archives, but pirated versions of the skit are circulating on Twitter and YouTube.
In 2018, news anchor Megyn Kelly had her show Megyn Kelly Today cancelled after she held a panel discussion in which she asked why it was inappropriate for white people to wear blackface as part of a Halloween disguise, stating that blackface was “OK when I was a kid, as long as you were dressing like a character.” Kelly has since apologized for her comments and came to an exit agreement with NBC. While not dismissing Kelly's comments, Fallon's SNL skit resurfacing highlights NBC's hypocrisy in the matter.
Fallon has since apologised publicly on Twitter for his actions, writing, “In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this. I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.” With the #jimmyfallonisoverparty trending, reactions have been decidedly mixed, particularly following the late-night show host’s apology. A number of users have expressed their disappointment in Fallon over the racist skit, while others have voiced concern over the internet’s perceived obsession with ‘cancel culture’, particularly during isolation.
Many are also confused over this new wave of criticism, given that the 20-year-old clip has previously been circulated and discussed on multiple occasions. Furthermore, this is hardly the first time that a comedian has performed in blackface on Saturday Night Live. The show has a long history of casting non-black actors as black characters in their sketches, some much more recently than 2000. Incidents include Fred Armisen as former President Barack Obama in 2010, Bill Hader as Michael Jackson’s former physician Conrad Murray in 2013, Joe Piscopo as civil-rights activist Jesse Jackson in 1983, and Billy Crystal as star Sammy Davis Jr. in 1984. It remains to be seen where this new wave of controversy leads for The Tonight Show.