‘Colbert Report’ tweet fires up Twitter users
March 28, 2014 - 11:06 am
A tweet that was sent from The Colbert Report Twitter account on Thursday sparked accusations of racism towards the show and began a #CancelColbert hashtag that spread like wildfire.
According to Time, the tweet, which has now been deleted, read, “I’m willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.”
The tweet was regarding the show’s bit on Wednesday when Colbert made fun of Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s newly announced foundation, which is titled Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.
The show account later attempted to mend the social media disaster with some followup tweets.
First tweeting, “For the record @ColbertReport is not controlled by Stephen Colbert or his show. He is @StephenAtHome Sorry for the confusion #CancelColbert”
And then tweeting, “This is a Comedy Central promotional account, with no oversight from Stephen or his show, that quoted a line out of context. #cancelcolbert”
Colbert himself took to the social network Thursday night from his personal Twitter account to also make a comment regarding the tweet. “#CancelColbert - I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I’m @StephenAtHome”