Jimmy Fallon Apologizes For Resurfaced Blackface 2000 ‘SNL’ Skit

Jimmy Fallon apologized on Tuesday after a Saturday Night Live skit that aired 20 years ago resurfaced featuring him appearing in blackface to impersonate fellow former SNL cast member Chris Rock.

The video made the rounds on social media over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, sending the hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty trending by Tuesday morning. Fallon, now the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, took to Twitter to apologize for the skit, calling his impersonation of Rock while in blackface “a terrible decision” and “unquestionably offensive decision.”

While the full sketch is not available on NBC’s online platforms, a portion of it was uploaded on YouTube in early February 2019, shortly after NBC News cancelled Megyn Kelly Today in the wake of the morning host’s on-air Halloween blackface defense  The video, which has now been picked up on Twitter, references Kelly’s dismissal. (you can watch it below.)

Fallon was a cast member on SNL from 1998-2004 before moving to host NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. He eventually became host of The Tonight Show in 2014. All three shows are now executive produced by Lorne Michaels.

Rock departed SNL in 1993 after three seasons.