Standing His Ground: Al Roker's Bold Costume Choice
Let's give Al Roker a break, folks! The ever-popular 64-year-old Today show star has decided to stand his ground against critics who've been scrutinizing his choice to dress up as Doc Brown from Back to the Future for Halloween. This comes in the wake of his NBC co-star Megyn Kelly's controversial comments about blackface. Now, here's the thing—Doc Brown, famously portrayed by Christopher Lloyd, is a white character. So, naturally, a lot of people have taken to social media to question why it's okay for Al, who is Black, to dress up as a white person, while Megyn faced backlash for her stance on blackface costumes.
Now, here's what Al had to say about it. On Halloween day, Al took to Twitter to clarify why his costume wasn't an example of "whiteface." In his tweet, Al said, “I’m going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON’T, won’t.” He went on to explain, “I can be Doc Brown, and I wear the outfit and wig and not change my skin color. If you’re white, you can be President Obama if you want. Just don’t color your skin!”
Al Roker's Social Media Battle
Al didn't stop there. As the messages criticizing his costume kept pouring in, he decided to engage directly with his critics. In one response, someone wrote, “I’ve seen people today color their skin green, purple, [etc.] for [a Halloween] costume. So this is now wrong? Guess I don’t get it!” To this, Al cleverly replied, “Yes, you are offending all the green and purple people walking around. Seriously?”
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Another user took a jab at Al, saying, “You are a piece of work. I think in light of the [Megyn] situation you could have made a better Halloween costume choice. Really…” Al, ever the gentleman, responded with grace, saying, “Bless your heart. Have a great day.” Thankfully, not everyone was critical. Some people appreciated Al's explanation and applauded him for standing his ground. One fan even said, “Waiting for my next flight here in LAX and reading your responses to some grumpy folks — thanks for the great chuckle this morning! Bless YOUR heart with cheers [and] love from me!”
Megyn Kelly's Fallout: A Reminder of Sensitivity
Before Al's costume became the center of attention, NBC had already announced that Megyn Kelly was on her way out at Today after her defense of blackface costumes during her third-hour show. Megyn had said, “But what is racist? You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween… when I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as a character… I can’t keep up with the number of people we’re offending just by being, like, normal people.”
Later that day, Megyn sent an email apology to her “friends and teammates.” She admitted, “When we had the roundtable discussion earlier today about the controversy of making your face look like a different race as part of a Halloween costume, I suggested that this seemed okay if done as part of this holiday where people have the chance to make themselves look like others.” She continued, “I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep. I’ve never been a [politically correct] kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age. Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year.”
Despite her apology, Megyn did not return to Today and is reportedly working on severing ties with NBC.
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