(WTVR) – Comedian Stephen Colbert has distanced himself from a tweet sent by the verified Colbert Report Twitter account that resulted in some people calling for the Comedy Central show’s cancellation.
“#CancelColbert – I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I’m @StephenAtHome,” Colbert tweeted Friday morning.
The @ColbertReport tweet, which has since been deleted, lifted a line from Colbert’s show that came during a segment in which Colbert mocked Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s initiative to help Native Americans.
After making fun of Snyder’s attempt to appease those offended by the Washington Redskins nickname by creating a foundation to help Native American using said nickname — his newly formed Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation. — Colbert’s segued into talking about his Asian-American character that some people find offensive.
“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 from The Colbert Report read.
After the segment aired and the tweet was sent, those offended by the comment created the #CancelColbert hash tag.
In response, early Friday morning, Comedy Central responded via Twitter.
“For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert,” the network tweeted. “This is a Comedy Central account, with no oversight from Stephen/show. Here is quoted line in context http://on.cc.com/1dyeQri #cancelcolbert.”
