US talk show host Jay Leno sorry for past racist jokes about Asians he believed were ‘harmless’
- An Asian-American media group says Leno has had a long history of making racist jokes, including one in 2019 about Koreans eating dogs
- Leno said in a statement that when he made the jokes, he ‘genuinely thought them to be harmless’
US talk show host Jay Leno is apologising for decades of racist jokes he has made about Asian people.
Leno recently met the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) to discuss how his past comments had been harmful to the Asian community, according to a press release from the advocacy group.
In the release, MANAA revisited a long and detailed history of racist jokes about Asians made by Leno between 2002 and 2012, as well as a joke he reportedly made on the set of America’s Got Talent in 2019 about Koreans eating dogs.
The group states that, after multiple unsuccessful attempts to have a direct conversation with Leno and NBC throughout the years, MANAA leadership finally met the comedian on February 10 and received an apology and a pledge from him to do better.
Leno said in a statement that, when he made these jokes, he “genuinely thought them to be harmless”.
I do not consider this particular case to be another example of cancel culture but a legitimate wrong that was done on my part
“At the time, there was a prevailing attitude that some group is always complaining about something, so don’t worry about it,” he said. “Whenever we received a complaint, there would be two sides to the discussion: either, ‘We need to deal with this’ or ‘Screw ’em if they can’t take a joke’.”
But the comedian says he now regrets making these jokes.