NEW YORK (December 14, 2006) — Rosie O?Donnell has publicly apologized for uttering a racial slur on ?The View.?
O?Donnell recently recounted news that Danny DeVito?s drunken appearance on the ABC show made international headlines. While describing that his visit hit Chinese newspapers, she used the phrase ?ching chong ? Danny DeVito ? ching ching chong,? angering Asian-American groups, including the Asian American Justice Center, the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, who called for an apology.
On this morning?s ?The View,? she adhered to their wishes publicly.
?This was apparently very offensive to a lot of Asian people and I asked Judy, who is Asian who works in our hair and makeup department, I asked ?was it offensive to you??
?She said, ?Well, kinda. When I was a kid people would tease me by saying ching-chong.?
?Apparently ching chong, and this is news to me, is a very offensive word or way to make fun or mock Japanese — any Asian accent. It?s very offensive and some Asian people have told me it?s as bad as the ?n? word, which I was like really? I didn?t know that.
?To anyone that felt offended by my Chinese-Asian-pseudo-Japanese-sounded-Yiddish accent that I was doing — and was never intended to mock — I apologize.?
Rosie added that she may offend in the future. ?I?m also gonna give you a fair warning that I?m gonna do something like that again in the next week,? she added. ?Not on purpose.?
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