Monday, February 27, 2006

Adam Corolla "Apologizes"

For those of you following the racist Adam Corolla radio show issue where one of his moronic comedians mocked an Asian awards show, saying "ching chong" over 40 times...you may be surprised/pleased/still pissed off (I am all of these things) that Corolla issued an on-air apology to the Asian communtiy. It was clearly a prepared statement, and I'm not sure if it is sincere or not. I'm inclined to think not. As angryasianman states on February 24, it seemed like an attempt to placate the suits at CBS radio, but the damage has already been done.

Here is the text of Corolla's apology:

A quick piece of business to take care of. An apology to the Asian community. We did a bit a few weeks back that offended many people. It was unintended to offend these people. We do a show here that is a little irreverent and sometimes we cross the line and we definitely crossed it this time. And it was not meant to offend. It did. And for that we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community. So we apologize and we thank you for your support.

On his February 24 post, angryasianman has an audio clip of the apology. Yes, it gets tiring, but I am glad people voiced their disapproval. Yet another ridiculously racist skit has appeared courtesy of Dr. Ken on Comedy Central.

7 comments:

Michelle M. Buchanan said...

Of course it was insincere, had nobody complained about it the apology would have never happened.

"And it was not meant to offend" and of course, it wasn't. It was meant to be funny from the eyes of someone who thinks that kind of thing is funny. The apology isn't saying anything other than we're sorry we offended people, as if the problem was not what was said but that they pissed people off.

And where is my apology? I'm not part of the asian community but he owes me an apology as well - for representing like a racist asshole.

Lee Herrick said...

michelle---well said! and kimberly, you are so right about race relations here being limited in scope to african-americans and caucasians. Surely that's connected to historical/slavery related issues, but it's compounded by our either/or, pepsi/coke, democrat/republican, "you're either with us or against us" sort of "black/white" limited thinking. A few examples---the new FX show where a black family gets "made up" to look like a white family and vice-versa. Think of all the Hollywood cop movie comedies that pair the wise cracking, loose canon black cop (Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, etc.) with the straight-laced by the book caucasian cop (Judge Reinhold, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, etc.)---in a "let's see if these two people can actually get along" story. There are so many shades of grey, of course, which makes books like Frank Wu's Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White so vital. Ronald Takaki and other such scholars should be spoken of and as widely read as Cornell West.

Regarding Corolla, there are a lot of educated and pissed off people out there, like us, apparently. Unfortunately, I think the Corolla fans outnumber us 4 or 5 to 1 (at least). There's obviously a lot of work to do.

p.s. Don't even get me started on how lacking our education system is regarding Asian-American literature/authors. How long can Amy Tan carry the load?

WannabeMe said...

"How long can Amy Tan carry the load?"

Oh, my gawd. That was hilarious, but SO true. If another non-asian friend comes up to me and say, "You're a writer? You know, I love Amy Tan...."

I'm gonna strangle that person!!!

Anonymous said...

Adam Corolla wasn't that funny to begin with. He'll be doing Hollywood Squares in a few years.

A forced corporate apology is always specious and insincere. You'd think they'd learn after the whole Abercrombie & Fitch thing.

Anonymous said...

I noticed Adam Corolla, himself, did not have the balls to stand out and apologize. It's always "we" were not meant to offend, "we" this, and "we" that ... when will he, Adam Corolla, apologize?

A.Tran from Austin, Texas

Anonymous said...

I would like to issue an apology: I think that Adam Corolla is really funny - and for that, I'm sorry.

Look, screwballs - almost all humor is at someone's expense. That's how it works: people laugh and laugh... until the jokes on them - then they get angry and start making phone calls. What a waste of energy.

How many of you do not laugh at some other "group" - whether it's Asians, Blacks, rednecks or hippies - every single day?

People are ridiculous. Black people, white people, Asians, Jews, Christians - all ridiculous. All good for a laugh.

The thing that I think is sad is not that the joke was aired, but that Adam gave in to corporate pressure and apologized at all. He doesn't owe you an apology. And I'm sure he isn't wasting his time sitting around thinking about it. Really, people. I mean, really - c'mon. Give me a break.

Lee Herrick said...

dear whatever,

you should know that i do not encourage anonymous posts, so if you post again, you'll need to identify yourself.

how can i take you seriously? i have a healthy sense of humor. i also know racist jokes when i hear them (did you listen to the show itself?). i also know a defense of racism when i read it (the "oh, lighten up" claim"). yours is a classic.

take care of yourself.