A petition asking the White House to investigate Jimmy Kimmel Live after it aired a controversial Kid’s Table skit,which has caused outrage among the Chinese community, has reached 100,000 signatures. That means that it may get a response from the Obama Administration.
In the Oct. 16 skit, Kimmel asked a young boy how the U.S. should deal with its debt to China. “Kill everyone in China!” the boy replied and Kimmel replied with a laugh, “That’s an interesting idea.” ABC had apologized for the skit and promised to pull it from repeats and online.
Meanwhile, a person from Texas posted a petition on WhiteHouse.gov on Oct. 19, asking the administration to investigate the show.
“The kids might not know anything better. However, Jimmy Kimmel and ABC’s management are adults. They had a choice not to air this racist program, which promotes racial hatred,” the petition reads. “The program is totally unacceptable and it must be cut. A sincere apology must be issued. It is extremely distasteful and this is the same rhetoric used in Nazi Germany against Jewish people. Please immediately cut the show and issue a formal apology.”
The petition has reached over 101,000 signatures, which means that it merits a response from the White House. As Politico notes, the White House raised the threshold from 25,000 to 100,000 after some ridiculous petitions reached the previous threshold.
A White House spokesman told Politico that if the White House does respond, it will be a statement posted online, as they have done for previous responses.
image: ABC