Larry Wilmore comedian and host of The Nightly Show, was invited to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner recently where he gave a controversial speech, concluding his comedic set with “Yo Barry, You did it, my n***a”.
Plenty of people, both black and white were upset about his remarks after the dinner, and were astounded that he referred to the POTUS as “N***a”. One person in particular was Piers Morgan, who wrote a Daily Mail column calling Wilmore’s performance an offensive publicity stunt for global attention.
It seems Morgan’s column along with all the other critics, hit a nerve, because Wilmore dedicated a large part of his Monday Nightly Show to address him calling President Obama “n***a”.
“I’m wrapping up my little speech and giving the president some props,” Wilmore explained as he recalled the evening. “Then I buttoned it with a little, um, let’s say colloquialism.”
And while he acknowledges many people were upset, he says some were supportive, and others had mixed feelings on it including the President.
Addressing Morgan directly Wilmore asked the columnist “Are you saying that I called the president a n****r?”
He then follows up with “I would never do that…I believe I said, ‘Yo Barry, You did it, my n***a!’ There’s a difference. Piers, you did not properly conjugate the slur. Very important! ‘N****r’ is what white people use to denigrate, demean, and dehumanize black people. ‘N***a’ is a term of endearment some black people use between each other to take back its power.”
Piers Morgan, popular for his controversial pieces, and adamant dislike for Beyonce, responded to Wilmore’s questions and this morning saying “I dont need a history lesson to tell me that the N-word, – ‘n***er’ or n*gga – is wrong”
Whether or not President Obama had an issue with Wilmore’s “colloquialism” is yet to be discovered.
