CNN host Chris Cuomo found himself on the receiving end of backlash over the weekend after recently claiming that he is “black on the inside.”
While speaking with friend and fellow CNN host Don Lemon on Friday, Cuomo began singing the theme song for “Good Times,” a CBS sitcom that aired in the 1970s.
Laughing awkwardly with his eyes lowered, Lemon asked his fellow host how he knew the words to the series about a black family living in a public housing project in Chicago.
“You know I’m black on the inside,” Cuomo responded.
While Lemon did not say anything to Cuomo, social media quickly responded to the off-color comment, blasting Cuomo for his claim.
“It’s f***ing offensive. Black isn’t something you can just say you feel you are inside without having to deal with the racism that comes with being physically Black on the outside. This is cultural appropriation,” Aisha Staggers, managing editor of Sister2Sister magazine, said.
Staggers added, “Black is not a costume, I don’t get to be white when I don’t feel like not dealing with racism or racist police or just regular bulls*** Black people deal with. I can’t even hide at home because I can be killed there in my bed, so understand, there was nothing silly about this.”
Many commentators compared Cuomo to his politician brother — who has faced repeated calls to resign amid sexual harassment allegations — with one asking if they were “competing for s–tiest Cuomo.”
Another ripped the TV host as a “spoilt, entitled guy raised in money and privilege, who is only on tv because of his surname.”
Rev. Mary Dande said she “had to turn off the television because I’m not here for that nonsense.”
“CNN needs to have some sensitivity training with their on-air personalities,” she tweeted.
Others insisted the exchange was “hilarious” and not worthy of the anger it sparked.
Cuomo was also criticized this week after finally addressing the scandal growing around his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Watch:
This is an excerpt from The New York Post.
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