On Saturday, hundreds of protesters targeted ABC Studios in Burbank, Houston, and Phoenix to protest the Oct. 16 segment of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" where one of the late night host's tiniest guests suggested that we should "kill everyone in China."
The comment was made by a young boy during an unscripted segment called "Kids' Table," after Kimmel asked a roundtable of children how the United States should repay its $1.3 trillion debt to China. Both ABC and Kimmel have since apologized for the comment, and are no longer airing "Kids' Table."
ABC said at the time, "We offer our sincere apology. We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent, or any community at large. Our objective is to entertain." Kimmel added, "I just want to say I am sorry. I apologize. It was certainly not my intent to upset anyone."
However, Chinese-American groups and protesters refuse to accept the apology. ABC Studios has not responded to Yahoo TV's request for comment regarding the protests.
According to a Burbank Police Department spokesperson, crowds "swelled up to 1,500 protestors" at the 2300 block of Riverside Drive after some demonstrators went into a restricted area near ABC Studios at 9:30 a.m. By 11 a.m., Burbank police had responded to the scene, but no arrests were made. By 12:30 p.m., the crowds had dispersed.
Less than 400 miles away, one hundred protesters gathered outside the ABC 15 studios in Phoenix. In response to the controversial skit, they chanted, "Teach kids no hatred," "No fake apology," and "Shame on you ABC" for 20 minutes, before relocating to protest near 44th and Van Buren streets, reported ABC15 news.
In Houston, several hundred protesters reportedly flooded the intersection of Westheimer and Post Oak Blvd. and urged ABC to stop racism against the Chinese and fire Jimmy Kimmel.
Twitter was also peppered with tweets and videos from the protests.
Last month, protesters lined up outside of ABC studios in New York City and held signs that compared the late night host to Hitler and accused him of "manipulating children."
The backlash toward Kimmel's apology has even caught the attention of the White House. A petition requesting that ABC and Kimmel be held responsible for the comments was posted to the White House's website and nabbed more than 100,000 signatures, which requires an official statement from the White House.
Do you think ABC and Jimmy Kimmel deserve the nationwide backlash?
Watch the clip that's caused all the controversy right here:
Well how is that his fault when this is an unscripted segment with kids, who say stupid things all the time. And "refusing" to accept an apology? I'm sorry, that is low, who do you think you are?
Well how is that his fault when this is an unscripted segment with kids, who say stupid things all the time. And "refusing" to accept an apology? I'm sorry, that is low, who do you think you are?
That was definitely scripted, and even if it wasn't, they should have cut that part out.
Why though? It wasn't meant seriously, and it's funny to see the random things kids will say. I bet if they said something like "Kill all Canadians", I doubt it would get the same reaction.
Why though? It wasn't meant seriously, and it's funny to see the random things kids will say. I bet if they said something like "Kill all Canadians", I doubt it would get the same reaction.
I still think people need to watch what they say. Even if you don't think it's offensive, many others will, especially in China. Do you really believe the kid would unintentionally have that answer to the question Kimmel asked?
This is a huge overreacted. It's a little kid for gosh sakes. Even the Asian girl next to him agreed with his plan. They don't understand why they are saying. They are kids!
I thought it was pretty obvious he was a classist, racist bigot?....
Jimmy Kimmel? Not to my knowledge. Leno is the big ******* of late night.
Anyway, I don't see how in the world Kimmel is being blamed for this. It was an unscripted bit and kids say dumb **** like that all the time. That's why they did that whole segment. As long as Kimmel wasn't actively encouraging or agreeing with that idea, I don't see what everyone is making a big deal about.
I think we need to see the big picture here, young kids say dumb things all the time; however it was wrong on their part (Jimmy’s) to simply laugh at the comment instead of correcting the kid and tell him not to wish death upon anybody, which would be stupid in first place so they probably should have edited that part and avoid all the unnecessary drama.
This is irresponsible, wether unscripted or not, wether little kids or not, ADULTS on Abc have the final say on what goes on the air and what doesn't, well you just don't air kids talking about massacring a whole ethnic race (and it's not only at the beginning of the video they are actually discussing it at the end too). I understand how Chinese find this offensive and I even think they are under reacting.
Just imagine if Russia had little kids on Tv saying things like 'let's kill all Americans' and discussing how to do it...
The U.S. would be going up in arms.
Not him sitting right next to an Asian girl
but why would they include that part for millions to watch? Very stupid decision.
