Alyssa Milano is denying claims that she once donned blackface. This past Tuesday, the 47-year-old actress shared a photo of a headline that said she was experiencing “backlash” for a resurfaced “damning” photo that raised blackface concerns.
Milano revealed how the image in question came from a Jersey Shore spoof for a Funny or Die sketch back in December 2009. “Hey, ass—-s. The below picture is me parodying Jersey Shore and Snookie’s tan. Snookie’s tan (she is a sweetheart by the way) is worthy of parodying as is Trump’s ‘tan’. So go f— yourselves with your smear campaign,” she tweeted.
Milano also posted a link to the sketch on YouTube, which shows Milano undergoing a time-laspsed makeup transformation into reality TV star Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi, now 32, and her iconic spray tan. The actress tweeted on Monday about “cancel culture,” writing how it is being “weaponized” to mute critics of Donald Trump‘s administration.
“Cancel culture is being weaponized by the right/Putin. Take notice of who they are targeting & what is trending. Are they trying to hurt Trump’s most vocal critics? Yup,” she wrote. “The misinformation campaign has begun. Be vigilant in what you post on social media. Truth still matters.”
She went on to share how the headline she called out for spinning her past parody into a faux blackface controversy makes that point.
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“The photo of me parading Jersey Shore and Snookie’s tan? This proves the entire point of the actual tweet. I’ve never done, nor would I ever do blackface,” she wrote.
Just last week, the late-night host Jimmy Kimmel apologized for using blackface in past sketches.
“I have long been reluctant to address this, as I knew doing so would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us,” started Kimmel, 52, in a statement.
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“That delay was a mistake. There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke.”
Kimmel then added: “Looking back, many of these sketches are embarrassing, and it is frustrating that these thoughtless moments have become a weapon used by some to diminish my criticisms of social and other injustices.”
“I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years, and I hope that is evident to anyone who watches my show,” he said. “I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me. I love this country too much to allow that. I won’t be bullied into silence by those who feign outrage to advance their oppressive and genuinely racist agendas.”