Many are calling for the cancellation of "The Colbert Report" after a tweet mocking Asian stereotypes was posted Thursday from the @ColbertReport account to its over 1 million followers.
The tweet in question — which has since been deleted — is below:
The tweet was in reference to a bit from Colbert’s Comedy Central show on Wednesday in which he mocked the Washington Redskins’ latest attempt at PR damage control in partnering with a charity for Native Americans.
Since the post, the hashtag #CancelColbert has gone viral.
Some were outraged:
I'm sick of my daughter's ethnicity being a punchline. It sure wasn't funny for her when she was mocked in kindergarten. #CancelColbert
— Amy D. Cubbage (@amydcubbage) March 28, 2014
Good humor punches up, at the powerful. Lazy humor relies on racist stereotypes. Apologize and do better. #CancelColbert
— Shane Landrum (@cliotropic) March 28, 2014
"you just don't get satire!" no actually i'm pretty sure you just don't get how racism works lol #CancelColbert
— pots is everything (@fairybukkake) March 28, 2014
Others argued that people just don't understand Colbert's character or the show's tone:
#CancelColbert NO. If you were offended by this, you don't understand the show and should stop watching it. @ColbertReport #ColbertNation
— Jon (@brijon24) March 28, 2014
This whole #CancelColbert thing reminds me of when we read "A Modest Proposal" in English class and half the people didn't recognize satire
— Erik Bremer (@erikbremer8) March 28, 2014
This #CancelColbert thing serious? Can people really not understand parody/satire when race is involved? How 'bout this? #CancelStupidity.
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) March 28, 2014
Late last night, Colbert jokingly tried to ease the online tensions over the tweet he didn't write. And the show was forced to do damage control:
#CancelColbert - I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I'm @StephenAtHome http://t.co/e0Pqz7U7i9
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) March 28, 2014
For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
This is a Comedy Central account, with no oversight from Stephen/show. Here is quoted line in context http://t.co/UFnaFfOSpn #cancelcolbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
“I do the show in character — and he’s an idiot,” Colbert once said during an interview. “He’s willfully ignorant of everything we’re going to talk about. Disabuse me of my ignorance. Don’t let me put words in your mouth.”
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