Jimmy Kimmel criticised over 'tone deaf' ICE deportation dig at John Oliver after losing Emmy
Jimmy Kimmel has been criticised for a joke about reporting talk show host to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The comedian, 52, made the controversial dig after fellow late night host Oliver, 43, scooped the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Talk Series for the fifth consecutive year, beating Kimmel’s eponymous show.
After British star Oliver accepted his award over a video link, Kimmel, who hosted the virtual Emmys in an empty auditorium at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, jokingly suggested that he would report his rival to immigration services.
“Congratulations again to John Oliver, I will be reporting him to ICE,” he said.
The remark sparked backlash on social media, as ceremony viewers called out Kimmel for making light of deportations, with some sharing their families’ experiences with ICE.
tw // ice
the amount of white privilege it took for jimmy kimmel to get up on stage at a nationally televised event and make a joke about ice and have no one tell him that that isn’t okay, is absolutely astonishing to me. @jimmykimmel @TheEmmys what’s so funny about ice? pic.twitter.com/Kox7aECu9Y— ashley is a sapphic ♡ (@hxlenasromanoff)
Ewwww.... Jimmy Kimmel. No jokes about calling ICE, please. Thanks.#Emmys
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer)
My biggest fear as a kid was seeing my parents get deported by ICE.
This joke was hurtful and tone deaf, @jimmykimmel. pic.twitter.com/z5oN7XFhLj— Tomás Mier (@Tomas_Mier)
Jimmy Kimmel's ICE joke at the #Emmys would never sit right with me... but especially doesn't sit right with me this year, when only ONE Latinx actor was nominated.
— Tomás Mier (@Tomas_Mier)
so an ICE joke ain’t it @jimmykimmel — and my concern is also the number of other people that approved that joke
— le petty prince (@malxavi)
jimmy kimmel should be kicked off the show for making an ice joke
— samantha (@sarahssnook)
flipped on the emmys to hear jimmy kimmel make 1 tragically tone deaf joke about "reporting john oliver to ICE" directly after he was given an award, aaaaaand now i'm leaving.
— sara wass here (@sarawass)
His comment was described as “tone deaf” and “insensitive,” coming amid allegations from a whistleblower that detainees at an immigration detention facility were given improper hysterectomies and other gynaecological procedures.
Some Twitter users said that his remark was indicative of white privilege, while others suggested that the joke was in particularly poor taste given the lack of Latinx representation or nominations at the awards ceremony.
“The amount of white privilege it took for Jimmy Kimmel to get up on stage at a nationally televised event and make a joke about ICE and have not one tell him that that isn't okay, is absolutely astonishing to me,” one social media user wrote.
Another added: “My biggest fear as a kid was seeing my parents get deported by ICE. This joke was hurtful and tone deaf, @jimmykimmel.”
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