Another day, another contorvesy surrounding celebrities. This time model and activist Nyle DiMarco, who won America’s Next Top Model in 2015 and season 22 of Dancing with the Stars, has expressed outraged via Twitter over a recent segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In the segment, Fallon was transitioning to the commercial, while guest-star Jamie Foxx sat in his seat and made up random movements with his hands as if he was doing sign language.
DiMarco, who is deaf and very active in bringing awareness to the deaf community, tweeted a clip of the video and wrote that Foxx’s and Fallon’s actions were “disrespectful” and lacked “cultural sensitivity.”
@iamjamiefoxx Also- @jimmyfallon @FallonTonight how was this allowed?
Where’s the cultural sensitivity. Not comedy when you make fun of others.
— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) May 27, 2017
Nyle is an active activist for the deaf community. In 2016, the model started his own non-profit organization, The Nyle DiMarco Foundation. The foundation provides access to resources for deaf children and their families. He is also a spokesperson for the groups LEAD-K, Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids, and also contributed to an app that helps teach American Sign-Language called The ASL App.
A few hours later, DiMarco released a lengthy statement explaining why Foxx’s behavior should not be tolerated:
My response to Jamie Foxx making up sign language on Fallon Tonight with @jimmyfallon. pic.twitter.com/GpDN8iB9xL
— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) May 27, 2017
Foxx originally appeared on Fallon to promote his new Fox reality show Beat Shazam. Neither Foxx nor Fallon have spoken out about the controversy. Entertainment Weekly reached out for more information and learned NBC aired the promo sparingly and that it reached out to DiMarco after he expressed his displeasure on social media.
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