Chris Rock made a stand for African Americans at the Oscars Sunday night, but he also had some crude jokes about Asians that offended many members of the community.
And one of those was NBA star Jeremy Lin, who had some harsh words for the Academy Awards host in return.
“Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being “cool” and “ok” to bash Asians smh #Oscars,” the Charlotte Hornets player tweeted to his 1.51 million followers Monday.
Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being "cool" and "ok" to bash Asians smh #Oscars https://t.co/1nBvAd3V0q
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) February 29, 2016
During the controversial segment from Sunday’s star-filled awards show, Rock brought three Asian children carrying briefcases onto the stage, posing as “bankers” from finance firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“They sent us their most dedicated, accurate and hard-working representatives,” he said. “Please welcome Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz.”
“If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids,” Rock added.
And tweet they did. “To parade little kids on stage w/no speaking lines merely to be the butt of a racist joke is reductive & gross,” Constance Wu, star of ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” wrote. “Antithesis of progress.”
She was joined by former “Glee” star Harry Shum Jr., who called the sketch a “lazy, uncreative joke after a brilliant monologue.”
Lin, 27, is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the league.
The Harvard graduate has played for the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, L.A. Lakers and now the Hornets.
Lazy, uncreative joke after a brilliant monologue @chrisrock #DiversityMyAss #ISomehowMissedThisPart https://t.co/fDZMcCLHdo
— Harry Shum Jr (@HarryShumJr) February 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/ConstanceWu/status/704184318222954496