When Jimmy Kimmel Faced Criticism for Cracking Racist Jokes
Jimmy Kimmel faced the wrath of criticism back in 2013 for misfiring offensive remarks towards the Asian community. In a segment of his Kids Table series, which focused on China, a child suggested, when prompted, a disturbing solution to reduce global debt. During the discussion, Kimmel said, "Kill everyone in China? Okay, that's an interesting idea," and then he proceeded to ask the group, "Should we allow the Chinese to live?" per CNN.
The backlash against the skit was so intense that Kimmel personally apologized to protestors outside the El Capitan Theatre, the filming location of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kimmel immediately apologized and said, "If I upset you, I'm very, very sorry. I thought that everyone would see it as a joke."
Kimmel faced criticism for his comments about the K-pop group BTS during a 2022 interview with Ashley Park on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he compared their popularity to a "fever" akin to COVID-19. The remarks made by the late-night show host also sparked reactions from the netizens.
User @CSChungLaw tweeted, "Putting aside just how massively tone-deaf and un-funny it is to joke about millions of people dying, you have to wonder what the heck was Jimmy Kimmel thinking when he linked BTS to COVID. Because there is no universe in which likening human beings to COVID is funny. /+" Adding further she wrote, "And when your target is BTS (and ARMY), it’s not just a terrible “joke.” It’s dehumanizing and dangerous, given the realities of anti-Asian violence. Especially during the pandemic/+" as she questioned Kimmel's racist comments.
Putting aside just how massively tone-deaf and un-funny it is to joke about millions of people dying, you have to wonder what the heck was Jimmy Kimmel thinking when he linked BTS to COVID. Because there is no universe in which likening human beings to COVID is funny. /+
— Christine Chung (@CSChungLaw) January 29, 2022
Other users like @OG_ut_TL commented in favor of Kimmel and wrote, "The point of comedy is you have to let yourself make the connection the comedian is trying to make.. people need to chill and not make their own connections and then freak out when theirs is offensive, even though the comedians aren’t."
Kimmel has been criticized on several occasions for his misplaced jokes. One of Kimmel's most notable and long-lasting conflicts is with former president Donald Trump. In a particularly memorable moment in March 2024, Kimmel even read aloud Trump's real-time "review" of the Oscars, an event that Kimmel himself was hosting.
"Thank you for watching. I'm surprised you're still [up]. Isn't it past your jail time?" the comedian quipped back then. Even before assuming the presidency, Kimmel had established a pattern of leveraging his platform to target the political figure in question.
Before Trump's time in office, Kimmel consistently criticized him in the media. "One of the most fun parts of my job is knowing that [Trump] hates being made fun of and making fun of him, and everyone once in a while he reminds us that he hates it. There are a lot of questions I would like to ask him and I would like to get actual answers," Kimmel once told CNN.
