Jay Leno apologizes for jokes mocking Asians throughout his career

Variety

Activist group Media Action Network for Asian Americans has spent nearly 15 years going after Leno for telling jokes targeting Asians on The Tonight Show and in his standup act. Now, in wake of a wave of anti-Asian attacks amid the coronavirus crisis, Leno is apologizing. “At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless,” Leno said on a recent Zoom call with MANAA leader Guy Aoki. “I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them.” In 2019, MANAA called on NBC to sever all ties with Leno after Variety reported that Leno made a Korean dog-eating joke while filming an interstitial segment for America's Got Talent. Of his Asian jokes, Leno explained to Aoki that “at the time, there was a prevailing attitude that some group is always complaining about something, so don’t worry about it. 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.’ Too many times I sided with the latter even when in my heart I knew it was wrong.” In light of that, Leno said, “I am issuing this apology. 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.”