Jimmy Fallon addresses blackface controversy, asks NAACP president how he 'can do better'

Jimmy Fallon has apologized on The Tonight Show in an emotional segment after coming under fire for wearing blackface in an old Saturday Night Live sketch.

A clip resurfaced last week of Fallon wearing blackface while playing Chris Rock on SNL in 2000, leading Fallon to apologize on Twitter for his "terrible decision." In his first episode of The Tonight Show since then, and in light of the ongoing protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, Fallon spoke further about the controversy.

"I was horrified," Fallon said. "Not of the fact that people were trying to cancel me, or cancel the show, which is scary enough. But the thing that haunted me the most was, how do I say I love this person? I respect this guy more than I respect most humans. I am not a racist. I don't feel this way."

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Fallon went on to say that he was advised not to address the controversy at all but decided that "I can't not say I'm horrified, and I'm sorry, and I'm embarrassed," concluding that "the silence is the biggest crime that white guys like me and the rest of us are doing."

In this "different" sort of edition of the show, Fallon then spoke with NAACP President Derrick Johnson about the "mistakes I made in the past" and asked how he "can do better," with Johnson praising Fallon's "powerful" apology and telling him that everyone is flawed. Fallon also interviewed CNN's Don Lemon, who similarly praised Fallon for his "honest" and "brave" opening monologue.

"That's exactly what we all need to do is examine ourselves," Lemon said. Brendan Morrow