America’s conscience apparently does not know how to be sorry or to apologize.
Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel issued a statement Tuesday addressing reports that he participated in a comedy sketch in 1996 in which he used the N-word at least six times while imitating rapper Snoop Dogg.
But Kimmel’s statement is not actually an apology, even though it is presented as one.
“I have long been reluctant to address this, as I knew doing so would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us,” it reads. “That delay was a mistake.”
Not that I am any great expert on apologies, but they should avoid sounding self-pitying. They should especially avoid language about one’s perceived enemies and their supposed reactions.
It continues, “There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who are genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke.”
The reference there to “makeup” is, of course, about the times that Kimmel wore dark makeup, you know, blackface, to do impersonations of former NBA player Karl Malone, who is black.
“I never considered that this might be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being, one that had no more to do with Karl’s skin color than it did his bulging muscles and bald head,” reads Kimmel’s statement. “I’ve done dozens of impressions of famous people, including Snoop Dogg, Oprah, Eminem, Dick Vitale, Rosie, and many others. In each case, I thought of them as impersonations of celebrities and nothing more.”
It adds, “Looking back, many of these sketches are embarrassing, and it is frustrating that these thoughtless movements have become a weapon used by some to diminish my criticisms of social and other injustices.”
Again, any apology that includes such self-pitying language is not much of an apology. Incidentally, the above passage also marks the second time in the statement that Kimmel presents himself as the victim in all of this.
“I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years,” the statement concludes, “and I hope that is evident to anyone who watched my show. I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me.”
That’s three times Kimmel talks about himself as if he is the victim.
“I won’t be bullied into silence by those who feign outrage to advance their oppressive and genuinely racist agendas,” it adds.
Sorry, four times.
“Thank you for giving me an opportunity to explain and to those I’ve disappointed, I am sorry,” the statement reads.
Depending on what you think of these sorts of things, celebrities and even complete nobodies being made suddenly to answer for offenses that are sometimes decades-old, Kimmel’s not-really-an-apology is either a bold act of defiance or a weak, cowardly series of excuses.
Your choice.
