According to Variety, comedian and former late night talk show host Jay Leno is apologizing for supposedly racist jokes he made over his years as a comedian and television host.
Apparently, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) has been hounding Leno for 15 years, demanding apologies for a multitude of his supposedly racist jokes, one of which included a crack at Korean cuisine in the 2019 season of "America’s Got Talent."
Leno finally caved in, probably because he feared the current leftist campaign against Asian discrimination that was energized in the wake of the Atlanta shooting, in which six Asians (and two non-Asian people) were killed.
As part of his apology statement, Leno said that he didn’t think his jokes were racist....at the time.
“At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless,” Leno claimed. “I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them.”
“I am issuing this apology,” Leno said. “I do not consider this particular case to be another example of cancel culture but a legitimate wrong that was done on my part. MANAA has been very gracious in accepting my apology. I hope that the Asian American community will be able to accept it as well, and I hope I can live up to their expectations in the future.”
Leno may not see it as cancel culture, but it nearly was. MANAA had urged NBC to stop airing the series, “Jay Leno’s Garage” in response to his jokes on Korean cuisine.
But in the end, after fifteen years of toil and distress, MANAA finally got their apology. Hopefully they're satisfied. Seriously, if MANAA is still angry over racist jokes made years ago, then they’ve got a problem, not Leno.