Terry Bradshaw’s appearance at Fox’s upfront presentation on Monday was intended to promote “Thursday Night Football,” but in poking fun at his time on “The Masked Singer,” the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback also made a racist comment about his network colleague, Ken Jeong.
“I love to sing, as all of you know who have my records,” Bradshaw said in the apparently improvised bit, after being asked by “Fox NFL Sunday” co-host Michael Strahan about his appearance on “The Masked Singer” earlier this year.
“Unfortunately, I was kicked off by Alan Thicke and the little short guy from Japan,” he said, jokingly referring to two of the show’s judges, Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong.
Jeong, who later appeared on the same stage at Monday’s event to promote the network’s hit singing competition, is Korean American. He served as a panelist on the first season of “The Masked Singer” alongside Thicke, Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger.
When Howie Long informed Bradshaw that Jeong isn’t from Japan, Bradshaw replied, “I don’t care where he’s from, he kicked me off.”
Bradshaw, who followed up his pro football career with a pivot to broadcasting and has been with Fox for 25 years, currently hosts the “Thursday Night Football” preshow alongside Long and Strahan. “The Masked Singer” has been picked up for two more seasons, which are set to air on the network during the 2019-20 season.