Margaret Cho has praised Jay Leno for apologising about his past jokes about Asians.
Margaret Cho
The 52-year-old comic insisted she pays no attention to people making racist gags because she's heard "so many" of them but she was impressed with the 70-year-old broadcaster's recent decision to say sorry for the offensive quips he made in the past.
Discussing her upcoming appearance on 'Jay Leno's Garage', Margaret was asked if she'd been booked as a guest on the CNBC show before or after he issued his apology and she told Entertainment Weekly: “Asian jokes go over my head because I’ve heard so many of them. I do a noise-cancelling thing with them.
"I booked Jay quite a while ago. For him to step up and take responsibility is very meaningful. I’m so pleased with his response. I accept apologies.”
Jay admitted in March that he had been wrong to make jokes during his comedy routines that perpetuated racist stereotypes, including suggesting Korean people eat dog and cat meat.
Jay - whose offensive jokes drew criticism from activist group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) for more than a decade - said: "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."
Jay defended his insensitive jokes for years, but now admits he "knew it was wrong".
The stand-up comedian - who hosted 'The Tonight Show' between 1992 and 2009 - said: "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."
Jay's comments come amid a recent spike in attacks on Asian-Americans.
And the TV star hopes members of the community will be able to accept his apology.
In a joint statement with the activist group, he explained: "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."
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