As protests against police brutality and systemic racism break out in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, tough conversations are being had. Talk show host Jimmy Fallon recently looked to his own mistakes and apologised for a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch that resurfaced last week.
The tone of this week's 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' was more sombre than usual, and rightly so.
It opened with the host addressing a 2000 'SNL' sketch in which he impersonated Chris Rock in blackface and apologising for it. Fallon spoke of how he was advised to "stay quiet", but realised that would only be contributing to the problem.
"So I thought about it, and I realized that I can't not say I'm horrified, and I'm sorry, and I'm embarrassed," he said. "And what that small gesture did for me was break my own silence.
"And what then I started to do was talk to some experts, some of which are here tonight, and this week, and I realised that the silence is the biggest crime that white guys like me and the rest of us are doing, staying silent.
"We need to say something. We need to keep saying something... More than just one day on Twitter. I realised I needed to get educated about how to stop the silence and the fear of saying the wrong thing."
Fallon's first guest on the show was NAACP president Derrick Johnson who spoke about what it means to be anti racist, to actively participate in the fight against racism.
He also spoke to CNN anchor Don Lemon. Lemon talked about how covering Floyd's death, as well as that of Ahmaud Arbery, had been hard on him. He thanked Fallon for his opening monologue and spoke of taking action.
Watch both interviews, including Fallon's opening monologue, below.
