Jimmy Kimmel Apologises for Blackface Impression Impression of NBA Star

Jimmy Kimmel says he is sorry for the blackface impression he did of NBA star Karl Malone in the mid- and late 1990s.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host who is currently on a vacation issued the statement Tuesday.  “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,” Kimmel said, per THR. “That delay was a mistake. There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke.”

It is worthy to notes that he began doing his impression of Malone, then a player with the Utah Jazz, in the mid-’90s, and continued it on TV, where he wore blackface makeup and a bald cap. A sketch from Comedy Central’s The Man Show featuring the impression remains on YouTube.

And this comes mere weeks after his fellow late night host Jimmy Fallon apologised for doing a blackface sketch on Saturday Night Live in 2000.