Jeremy Lin wasn t a fan of Chris Rock s joke about Asians at the Oscars
By: Hemal Jhaveri | February 29, 2016 5:26 pm
Host Chris Rock walked a fine line trying to highlight the lack of diversity within this year’s Oscar nominees on Sunday night but one joke went too far for the Charlotte Hornets’ Jermey Lin.
Halfway through the show, Rock brought three young Asian kids onto the stage as accountants for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“They sent us their most dedicated, accurate and hard working representatives. Please welcome Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz,” Rock joked.
After the camera cut away, Rock joked again, “If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was probably also made by these kids.”
Lin, who is Chinese-American, was not happy.
Jeremy Lin ✔ @JLin7
Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being "cool" and "ok" to bash Asians smh #Oscars https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/704335971886768128 …
3:31 PM - 29 Feb 2016
Rock’s joke played on the stereotype of Asians being hard working and smart and it also poked fun at child labor laws. That’s a dicey combination. Lin rightly took offense at being undermined during a broadcast that was all about highlighting racial inequality.
Jeremy Lin is shocked by Chris Rock s crude Asian joke at the Oscars
By Nick Schwartz
Feb 29, 2016 at 6:02p ET
Academy Awards host Chris Rock riffed on lack of diversity at the Oscars, but after touching on the fact that no black actors or actresses were nominated for an Oscar in 2016, Rock delivered a controversial joke targeted at Asians that fell awkwardly flat.
"As always, the results of tonight s Academy Awards have been tabulated by the accounting firm of Price, Waterhouse and Coopers. They sent us their most dedicated, accurate and hard-working representatives. I want you to please welcome Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz."