Stephen Colbert is under fire from the Asian community for a racist tweet sent from an account linked to the Comedy Central host’s account, but he says those were not his words.
“I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever,” The Colbert Report tweeted Thursday.
The tweet referenced Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder‘s plan to establish a foundation to “provide resources that offer genuine opportunities for Tribal communities” in response to controversy over the team’s name, a point of outrage for Native Americans. Colbert called the plan a P.R. gimmick on the show using ”Ching-Chong Ding-Dong,” a caricature of Asians.
#CancelColbert began trending in outrage to get the host off the air for the use of “Ching-Chong Ding-Dong” and the tweet. Screen captures circulated quickly as fans waited for an official statement from the comedian.
When Colbert caught wind of the tweet, he took to his personal account @StephenAtHome to clarify what happened saying, “I share your rage.” Comedy Central later deleted the tweet from the account.
“For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert,” the @ColbertReport handle later tweeted. “This is a Comedy Central account, with no oversight from Stephen/show. Here is quoted line in context http://on.cc.com/1dyeQri #cancelcolbert”
TV show hosts have been coming under pressure lately for using social media to make racially insensitive jokes for the sake of an “LOL.” Chelsea Handler‘s comment after Lupita Nyongo‘s Academy Award win got the late night show host in hot water with the African-American community.