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Carolla Apologizes After Money Talks

By Wendy Leung | AsianWeek
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Transcript of Wed., Feb. 22 apology: “Quick piece of business to take care of — an apology to the Asian community. We did a bit a few weeks back that offended many people. It was unintended to offend these people. We do a show here that is a little irreverent and sometimes we cross the line and we definitely crossed it this time and it was not meant to offend. It did and for that we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community. So we apologize and we thank you for your support.”

Television and radio personality Adam Carolla made an on-air apology to the “Asian community” last week, but most APA community leaders described it as far from making up for the damage caused by his segment ridiculing an Asian American awards presentation.

A month earlier, on Jan. 24, Carolla poked fun of the Asian Excellence Awards by airing a skit in which all the characters said nothing but “ching chong” repeatedly.

Lawmakers from coast to coast, including California Assemblywoman Judy Chu, New York Assemblyman Jimmy Meng and New York Councilman John Liu, have denounced the radio segment and demanded a public apology.

Many organizations began a letter-writing campaign urging sponsors to pull their advertisements from CBS Radio, which airs the Carolla show.

The apology did little to appease organizers such as Coalition Against Hate Media coordinator Kai Yu, who said saying sorry is not enough to prevent these sentiments being broadcast over the air again.

“An apology doesn’t address the history of derogatory comments,” said Yu. “We acknowledge it but it doesn’t reverse what happened. We need changes to CBS policy.”

The N.Y.-based Coalition Against Hate Media was formed last year after a racially charged song mocking the victims of the Asian tsunami was aired on the city’s HOT 97 radio station.

Yu said the coalition will continue to back West Coast groups in their efforts.

“It is important to make it clear to CBS that it is not a local response, it’s a national response that is equally offended,” Yu said.

The APA groups are calling for disciplinary action for Carolla, an establishment of policies regarding racist content, sensitivity training for CBS executives and employees, and a pursuit of educational programming regarding race and stereotypes. Organizations are planning to send a letter to CBS legal counsel requesting a meeting with CBS executives and Carolla in Los Angeles.

Karen L. Mateo, a CBS Radio vice president, said the network would welcome discussion on a future meeting.

“We had a discussion of Adam Carolla and he said he’d apologize,” said Mateo. “It was a correct action to take. We stand by him.”

Travel website Travelocity and auto insurance company Progressive have agreed to pull advertisements from the Carolla show.

“We monitor shows to be certain that they’re not offensive to anyone and those that we review and get feedback from, we take seriously,” said Leslie Kolleda, spokeswoman from Progressive. “As we looked at it we came to the same conclusion as a lot of folks did and we have removed advertising from his show.”

President of Media Action Network for Asian Americans Guy Aoki believes Carolla’s apology was motivated by sponsors dropping advertisements and not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

“The apology was very general, it didn’t address what he did,” said Aoki. “If he’s sincere, he’d meet with us.”