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    Jimmy Fallon apologizes for using blackface in 20-year-old skit

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1052 Views
    In this April 20, 2017 photo released by NBC, Jimmy Fallon, host of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," appears during a taping of his show in New York. Fallon has apologized for doing an impersonation of fellow comic Chris Rock while in blackface during a 2000 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Fallon tweeted on Tuesday that “there is no excuse for this.” Discussion of Fallon’s 20-year-old skit surfaced this week after a video of it was posted online. (Andrew Lipovsky/NBC via AP)
    NEW YORK (AP) --

    NBC "Tonight" show host Jimmy Fallon has apologized for doing an impersonation of fellow comic Chris Rock while in blackface during a 2000 episode of "Saturday Night Live."

    Fallon tweeted on Tuesday that "there is no excuse for this."

    Discussion of Fallon's 20-year-old skit surfaced this week after a video of it was posted online. According to Variety, it was first posted on Twitter by a user named "chefboyohdear," and showed Fallon, as Rock, appearing on a talk show.

    Fallon tweeted that it was a terrible decision to impersonate Rock, also a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member.

    "I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable," the late-night star wrote.

    The Twitter user who posted the clip mentioned Megyn Kelly, who was taken off the "Today" show and eventually left NBC News after suggesting in 2018 that it was OK for children to wear blackface in Halloween costumes. She apologized for her remark.

    The history of minstrel shows and movies where white performers donned blackface to mock blacks has made its use considered offensive today.

    Another late-night comic, Jimmy Kimmel, wore blackface to impersonate basketball star Karl Malone while on Comedy Central's "The Man Show" 20 years ago. Sarah Silverman used blackface for a sketch on her Comedy Central show in 2007, a decision she later said she was "horrified" by.

    Tags:blackfaceJimmy Fallon



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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