A decision by Jamie Foxx to perform pretend sign language during a Tonight Show promo has raised the ire of one of the deaf community’s most prominent members.
Model/activist Nyle DiMarco, who won season 22 of Dancing with the Stars last year as well as America’s Next Top Model in 2015, tweeted that Foxx’s actions during a tease for Thursday’s show were “disrespectful” and lacked “cultural sensitivity.”
“How was this allowed?” DiMarco tweeted to The Tonight Show and host Jimmy Fallon.
Along with releasing a statement, DiMarco posted the segment via Twitter of Foxx faux-si
gning Fallon’s comments.
“We simply do not make fun at the expense of other cultures, especially those with a history of being marginalized. When we do this, progress takes a step backward,” he wrote in part. “What Foxx did on Fallon Tonight made our struggle that much harder.”
My response to Jamie Foxx making up sign language on Fallon Tonight with @jimmyfallon. pic.twitter.com/GpDN8iB9xL— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) May 27, 2017
.@iamjamiefoxx, It is straight up disrespectful to make up sign language.Everything is in gibberish. pic.twitter.com/X5AHkusq3o
— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) May 27, 2017
Foxx appeared on Fallon to promote his new Fox game show Beat Shazam.
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) May 26, 2017
UPDATE
It has been reported that NBC aired the promo sparingly and that it reached out to DiMarco after he expressed his displeasure on social media.
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