Tina Fey has had some second thoughts about the jokes she made in the wake of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last summer.
The comedian addressed the violent rally during an appearance on a special edition “Weekend Update” episode of Global’s “Saturday Night Live” in August 2017.
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“I would urge people this Saturday, instead of participating in these screaming matches and potential violence, find a local business that you support, maybe a Jewish-run bakery, or an African-American-run bakery,” she jokingly advised. “Order a cake with the American flag on it like this one, and just eat it.”
The segment received criticism for the line of humour, with many arguing that advising audiences to eat cake instead of standing up to bigotry was the wrong message.
Fey appeared on “My New Guest Needs No Introduction” this week and told host David Letterman she’s thought about the criticism and now regrets the joke.
“The implication is that I was telling people to give up and not be active and to not fight,” Fey explained. “That was not my intention, obviously.”
She added that her message now would be, “fight them in every way except the way that they want.”
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Fey also explained her decision not to address the controversy earlier and more directly on social media.
“The culture of apology is not for me,” she said. “So what I will do is I promise, I swear to God, anybody who was mad at me, I hear you and I will learn, but I’m also not going to stop trying.”
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