Jamie Foxx has stepped up to defend Jimmy Fallon amid the blackface scandal that has been taking place on social media.
On Tuesday, a clip resurfaced that showed Jimmy Fallon using blackface to impersonate Chris Rock during a Saturday Night Live sketch that aired in 2000.
Fallon immediately took to social media to issue an apology. He said, in part, “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.”
Fallon finished his apology by stating, “I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”
Now, actor and comedian Jamie Foxx has taken to social media to defend Fallon and give his opinion on the situation.
Jamie Foxx comments on Instagram post
As shown in the photo below, Foxx went on an Instagram post made by E! News to share his opinions on the situation.
Foxx stated, “He was doing an impression of chris rock. It wasn’t black face. We comedians I know it’s a tough time right now. But this one is a stretch.”
The reference to comedy is something that other comedians have made in the wake of this particular scandal.
“On a show called in living color we played every race Let this one go,” Foxx continued. “We got bigger fish to fry … #changecourse.”
Many comedians have played different races on TV and in film
Within his post, Jamie Foxx referenced the show, In Living Color. This was one where no topic was off-limits and many of the cast members impersonated people of different races, creeds, and sexual preferences.
Some of those cast members included Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, and Keenen Ivory Wayans.
At the time of writing, more than 19,000 people have already liked the comment that Foxx left on the E! News story.
A lot of the comments were supportive of either what Foxx had posted or toward Fallon himself. One person wrote, “thanks for helping to clarify that an impression isn’t the same thing as blackface.”
Not everyone agreed with what Foxx had to say, though. One Instagram user posted, “let this one go? Would you say the same if it was a conservative comedian? I guess not. Double standards shouldn’t be allowed for any side.”