Bill Simmons Apologizes for Something that Didn't Require an Apology
On a recent episode of Bill Simmons’ podcast, the recently-retired Jackie MacMullan was a guest. The pair were talking about Joel Embiid, when MacMullan went into an impression of the Sixers’ big man:
— Real Hooper Pilled Trill (@TrillBroDude) December 14, 2021
It’s not a great impression. Maybe like a 3.4 out of 10.
But Simmons actually apologized for that, via Mediaite:
The “good impression” which was liked on Twitter by Embiid himself, apparently wasn’t “good” enough to last on Simmons’ podcast more then (sic) a week.
“Just a heads up Jackie MacMullan and I talked about Joel Embiid on my podcast,” Simmons said. “She did a quick impression of Joel. We realized afterwards it could be taken the wrong way. It was a little too late so as a result we uploaded an edited version as soon as we could. We apologize about that.”
A quick perusal of social media reveals that people found this to be racist. Shocker! People got bent out of shape by something on the internet.
Listen, obviously she’s not making fun of the guy. There’s no broader commentary on Cameroonian accents. She’s just trying to talk the way he talks, and did a subpar job. Most people laugh and roll with stuff like this, because they know it amounts to joking around.
At the very worse, this was maybe cringe, but it’s not mean spirited. She’s not out to get him. They should have just apologized for doing a bad impression.
Carry on.