ABC Apologizes for China Joke on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

Credit: ABC

Did Jimmy Kimmel Live gone too far, or are groups prone to overreaction? Either way, ABC is covering its bases.

The network issued a formal apology for a segment airing on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live last week in which a child joked about killing Chinese people in order to eliminate the U.S. debt. In the comedy bit, children were gathered together to talk about world events, giving their straightforward, unfiltered observations. The segment was meant to poke fun at childish politicians, but after the young boy proclaimed that the U.S. should just "Kill everyone in China" to solve the debt problem, ABC ended up in hot water with 80-20, a pan-Asian-American political group, who lodged a formal complaint with the network. It was an unscripted comment from the child, yet ABC could still be seen as the liable party, not only for broadcasting the segment, but for putting the children to be put into that situation in the first place.

ABC’s apology was issued in a letter to the group dated Oct. 25. In the statement, ABC said it would never intentionally do anything to upset the Chinese, Asian or related communities, and assured the group that the skit would be edited out of future airings and online distribution.

So did the segment go too far? Judge for yourself by watching the video below:

Via: Entertainment Weekly