Los Angeles: Actor Chris Rock says there is no beef between him and comedian Jimmy Fallon, who was at the centre of a blackface controversy recently. Fallon, who host “The Tonight Show” on NBC, had to issue an apology after a two-decade old clip from his “Saturday Night Live!” days resurfaced on social media.
In the video, Fallon is seen impersonating Rock using blackface, a type of makeup used by a non-black performer in an attempt to play a person of colour. During an interview with The New York Times, Rock was asked about Fallon and the actor-comedian said he is not upset with him over the impression.
“Hey, man, I’m friends with Jimmy. Jimmy’s a great guy. And he didn’t mean anything. A lot of people want to say intention doesn’t matter, but it does. And I don’t think Jimmy Fallon intended to hurt me. And he didn’t,” Rock said. When asked further whether it is justified to call for the removal of instances of blackface from existing movies and TV shows, Rock said he will be “the worst guy in the world” if he shares a contrary opinion about it. “There’s literally one answer that ends my whole career. Blackface ain’t cool, OK? That’s my quote. Blackface is bad. Who needs it? “It’s so sad, we live in a world now where you have to say, I am so against cancer. ‘I just assumed you liked cancer’. No, no, no, I am so against it. You have to state so many obvious things you’re against,” Rock added.
Previously, actor Jamie Foxx came out in support of Fallon, saying that he was just doing an “impression” of Rock. “(Fallon) was doing an impression of Chris Rock. It wasn’t blackface. We comedians I know it’s a tough time right now. But this one is a stretch,” Foxx had said.
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