Margaret Cho Says She’s Forgiven Jay Leno For Anti-Asian Jokes After His ‘Meaningful’ Apology
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Earlier this year, Jay Leno issued an apology for years of telling racist anti-Asian jokes, and comedian Margaret Cho says she’s forgiven him.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cho noted that she’d booked an appearance on “Jay Leno’s Garage”, the former “Tonight Show” host’s motorhead series for CNBC.
Cho responded to a question about whether she’d confirmed the appearance before or after Leno’s apology.
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“Frankly, Asian jokes go over my head because I’ve heard so many of them. I do a noise-cancelling thing with them,” she said.
“I booked Jay quite a while ago,” added Cho. “For him to step up and take responsibility is very meaningful. I’m so pleased with his response. I accept apologies.”
Leno stated his apology in March during a Zoom call with Guy Aoki, co-founder of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans.
“At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless. I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them,” Leno said, as reported by Variety.
RELATED: Jay Leno Apologizes For Years Of Anti-Asian Jokes: ‘In My Heart I Knew It Was Wrong’
“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,” Leno continued.
“I am issuing this apology,” he concluded. “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.”
