Jimmy Kimmel has come under fire for wearing blackface and saying the N-word while impersonating Snoop Dogg in a series of reemerged clips.
The Jimmy Kimmel Livepresenter, who recently announced that he was taking “a couple of months off” from presenting duties over the summer, faced criticism for the footage taken from his early career.
In a podcast episode from 2013, Kimmel admitted to imitating Snoop Dogg on a 1996 comedy Christmas album during which he used the N-word multiple times.
The track, which was obtained by Fox News, hears the performer reference “a fat n***** in a sleigh giving s*** away”, as well as a “n***** in the manger”.
According to the original cassette, the album was co-produced by Kimmel and credits him for nearly all “comedy material”, including on this track.
Speaking about the track in 2013, the presenter confirmed podcast host Adam Carolla’s comment that he was “doing Snoop”, explaining: “This is when Snoop Dogg first came out, hit the scene, and I used to imitate him by only saying, ‘You know what I’m saying?’”
“Jimmy, do you only do black people?” Kimmel was asked, jokingly replying: “I prefer them, yes.”
Calls were also made for the presenter to apologise following the emergence of Kimmel in blackface during his time on Comedy Central series The Man Showfrom 1999 to 2004.
These included impersonations of NBA player Karl Malone and a parody of Oprah Winfrey called “Oprah Jimfrey”.
Donald Trump Jr tweeted: “To be clear, I’m 100% against punishing comedians for jokes, even bad jokes from unfunny hack comedians like Jimmy Kimmel…but according to the left’s own woke rules that @jimmykimmel wants to force others to live by, it’s hard to see how @ABCNetwork allows him to keep his show.”
The Independent has approached Kimmel’s representatives for comment.
