A tweet sent out on the verified The Colbert Report Twitter account sparked controversy last night, leading many to call Stephen Colbert himself a racist. It caused #CancelColbert to trend in the U.S. and is still a trending topic this morning, even after Colbert explained that he had nothing to do with it.
The incident began when the Comedy Central show’s account tweeted a quote from Colbert’s sketch on Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s creation of a foundation for Native Americans. Colbert mocked that as just a PR move to stop claims that the “Redskins” name is racist.
During the sequence, Colbert brought up one of his old caricatures, Ching-Chong Ding-Dong and joked that he’d create a foundation for Asian Americans with that name. “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever,” the tweet read, USA Today.
Many assumed that Colbert himself had sent that tweet, but Colbert does not control the Colbert Report account. In fact, the show’s writing staff doesn’t even control that account.
#CancelColbert - I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I'm @StephenAtHome http://t.co/e0Pqz7U7i9
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) March 28, 2014
The Report account also tried to clear up the mess.
For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
This is a Comedy Central account, with no oversight from Stephen/show. Here is quoted line in context http://t.co/UFnaFfOSpn #cancelcolbert
— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 28, 2014
Nevertheless, the #CancelColbert hashtag is still trending on Twitter. Below is the segment that the quote was pulled from.
photo credit: Scott Gries (PictureGroup)/Comedy Central