“Kill Everyone In China” Controversy On Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Kid’s Table’ Program Goes Viral; ABC Network apologizes By Arjun Kashyap on October 28 2013 1:13 AM Jimmy Kimmel Wikipedia A White House petition by outraged Chinese communities, both in China and outside, to protest against a skit on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show, which had a child saying that the U.S. should “kill everyone in China” had collected more than 55,000 signatures late on Monday night. The skit originally aired on Oct. 16 on Kimmel’s ‘Kid’s Table’ program on the ABC network, where the comedian gathered four 6- and 7-year old children to get their thoughts on the current political and economic issues faced by the United States. The offending comment was in response to a question on how the U.S. could resolve the $1.3 trillion in debt the country owed to China and a child suggested that the U.S. should “kill everyone in China” to eliminate the debt. The petition, which called the skit "extremely distasteful" and that it was the "same rhetoric used in Nazi Germany against Jewish people,” was created on Oct. 19, and has since garnered 55,839 signatures so far. It needs 44,161 more signatures to reach the goal of 100,000 before Nov. 18, so it can be reviewed by White House staff. According to shanghaiist.com, Chinese people have protested against the segment on websites like Sina Weibo, with one user noting that the "Chinese are probably the only people that the U.S. mainstream media are free to publicly insult.” Another Weibo user, according to the South China Morning Post, called for all Chinese living in the San Francisco area to gather for a mass protest “outside the doors of ABC,” and added: “There are millions of Chinese out there, but only tens of thousands have signed [the petition] … Everyone may be busy, but the point of being busy is to give yourself and future generations the chance to live in a society that understands and respects Chinese people. Please grasp this opportunity and sign this petition.” However, there were others who sought to write off the remarks as the product of a comedy segment, shangaiist.com reported, noting that one online user commented that, "people should not be too serious" about the child’s remark on Kimmel’s show. The SCMP reported, late on Sunday night, that ABC had issued an apology, stating: “We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large.” The letter was signed by Lisa Berger, an ABC executive vice president who oversees the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, and Tim McNeal, vice president of ABC’s talent development and diversity branch, the SCMP reported, adding that the letter stated that the network had removed the controversial comment from all media platforms and that it would edit the comment out of all future broadcasts of the program. Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/kill-everyon...ble-program-goes-viral-abc-network-apologizes Petition for those interested: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...government-shutdown-show-abc-network/tLxzbBjg
Oh my god I'm fucking furious. Sign this new petition to have PA shut down and formally apologize to the americans. That's about how fucking stupid that article, that petition, those who signed, and those who cry over this non-factor issue are. Please find something more worth while to be productive with. edit: do clarify something please, what the fuck is the White House going to do lmao. /please close thread.
That's not how debt works, kill all Americans and the Chinese will be left holding the bag; that is they will be the holder of an uncollectable debt, but it remains a debt nonetheless. Of course, the latest political jockeying in DC has caused the Chinese no small amount of angst, given that they have so much in US notes. Even as they're the richest nation in the world, their prosperity is, in effect, bound at the hip to the US.
Not much of a hype to me but killing is a threat and I couldn't believe it came out from Jimmy's mouth. Not watching his shows again.
You know why you "...couldn't believe it came out from Jimmy's mouth?" Because it didn't. If one reads the article fully, one would appreciate the difference between "...a child saying that the U.S. should 'kill everyone in China' ”on his Kimmel's show is a far cry from it coming out from Jimmy's mouth. Frankly, aside from all the defensive Chinese who view this as an affront, if anything the parents of that American child should be mortified that their offspring is so "worldly" and has such an "obvious" solution to the US debt crisis; he publicly humiliated his parents with his cute little retort.
Well .. I personally didn't think much of it. In fact, I didn't watch the show. However, a lot of my "Chinese" colleagues were outraged by the comment which got my curiosity. I looked up the article and subsequently pasted it here to see what ya'll think about the issue. Apparently, most folks were mad because Kimmel failed to do something about it .. like correcting the kid that killing is not a solution or whatever and about the race issue. They were also pissed off that the show was broadcasted as it rather than deleted it out. Overall, I think people will always be sensitive when it comes to the "race" issue regardless of whether it's good or bad. Try saying something like that about African American and it would draw the same reaction and could be worse .. protest on the street or whatsoever. There will always be those whom take everything seriously.
I definitely don't doubt that. Race really has nothing to do with anything. The race card is way overplayed and abused all the time, and frankly embarrassing in this day and age. I'd like to ask your colleagues, what the hell was Kimmel supposed to do/say after being surprised by this unexpected statement? Burning him at the stake for something he failed to do is massively idiotic. This is typical reactionary behaviour and shame on them.
What I find to be the most important aspect in judging this is Kimmel's history; that is, has Kimmel been proven to have any instances of anti-Asian, Sinophobic or China bashing in his past? The answer to me is clearly no. He's certainly no Thomas Metzger or similarly well know personality with such a platform. In fact, his shows, for all the years that they've been on the air, have been funny and well received. So given that track record, do we, as a people, find it necessary to vilify Kimmel for not coming to the defense of China by NOT rebuking a seven year old's sudden unexpected irreverent comment? It would be quite another if he was persistently and repeatedly the host of shows known to have an anti-Asian platform where the guests would routinely be given air time to pound China; that certainly isn't the case here. So, Please.
That's actually the point right there. It seems (to me at least) that whether or not Kimmel came to the defense of China is actually not the problem at hand. The problem, IMHO, is the idea that people are quick to vilify, criticize, condemn, defame, you name it. They just need a reason to. The majority are reactionary. People like to blame others, they like to scapegoat others. It's not necessary, it's human nature (as disgusting as it may be).
people need to learn how to chill the fuck out. This is not a big deal, whether a child said it or it was staged by adults to have a child say it, it's not important. It'll probably get a few complaints and lose a few fans or two, but not important enough to have people cry about
You know, you're right. But which country? Certainly not China. What you're not pointing out here is that if that white child did give such a suggestive opinion (to "kill all black people") I doubt highly that Chinese people would even say anything in defense of blacks either. In fact, very few Asians, in the US or China, have historically ever risen to the task of confronting or combating anti-black racism. So, given that premise, do we now indict all Chinese people for failing to come to the defense of black people who had just been insulted? Well, if we continue to lambast Kimmel for his moral "failure" then what about our own moral failures? One only has to examine Chinese history and it is replete with examples of Han racism against, well... just about everyone. The old adage of 'living in glass houses' certainly applies here. Kimmel, in this case, invited an uncouth guest and the guest took a shit, stinking up the show; I certainly won't blame Kimmel for that. Again, the kid's parents are probably embarrassed to no end over this. That raises the question; how many Chinese parents would feel embarrassed if their child said "kill all blacks" on Kimmel's show?
I would be genuinely interested to know this lol. But you brought up some great points. I think this sums up my thoughts:
I'm reminded in all this, by the famous Niemoller poem, First they came which postulates that we must all make a stand when we see true injustice, no matter who it's directed at. That's why it genuinely saddens me when Asians don't rise up when seeing injustice directed at others besides themselves. But in this case, was it truly racial injustice on Kimmel's show? No. Rather, it was a very uneducated child showing his lack thereof on a very national stage. Again, the people I feel sorry for the most here is his parents.
I agree with the injustice part, not so much the parents. The child being uneducated is no one else's fault but the parents, and as such they deserved this embarrassment. My mother works in education, and far too often does she complain about how parents treat schools like daycare as well as push their parenting responsibilities on the school system. When a child misbehaves, far too common do parents blame teachers for not teaching their kids morals and ethics, when in fact it is their responsibilities to do so. Schools have processes that informs parents of bad behaviour, and many parents are either 1) in denial/choose to be ignorant of their kid's behaviour 2) blame the school for not "fixing" their kids 3) do not care enough to take on the responsibilities of being a proper parent. Of course, not everyone is like this.
I was in time square yesterday and there were a lot of people protesting at ABC, around the train station.
People have so much time on their hands to protest stupid shit... I'm jealous. I wish I had that free time too.
While the issue may be stupid to you, it mattered to others and they took action; not a waste of time to them. We have our own opinions but also respect others' choices too. Like I alluded in my earlier post, most ppl were mad that ABC broadcasted the skit when the station knew of the racist remark. Ya'll know .. I saw the clip and found it funny ... kinda blown this out of proportion. However, I guess some people are more sensitive than others or perhaps there are more to the story ... dunno. Here's the latest: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-handle-abc-jimmy-kimmel-155601712.html
