Larry Wilmore Drops N-Bomb on Obama at WHCD

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Larry Wilmore Drops N-Bomb on Obama at WHCD

April 4, 2016 – This year, Comedy Central’s rookie chat host of the Nightly Show, Larry Wilmore, leaped head first into controversy as host of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. The veteran TV producer nearly erased the buoyant good humor created by President Obama’s sharp, assured and wickedly funny remarks with an uneven and, at times, tense set. Wilmore, as expected, skewered the president and his policies, the feckless cable news establishment and the absurdity of the current presidential field, but it was how he closed his performance that provoked the biggest response:

“Yo, Barry, you did it, my nigga.”

Dropping real bombs with this crowd is fine, but dropping the “n-bomb,” much more complicated.

Media pundits engaged in much pearl clutching over Wilmore’s use of the most incendiary word in the English language with reactions swinging wildly from shock to outrage to confusion to exultation. Rev. Al Sharpton talked with the the LA Times at the MSNBC party after the event. “Many of us are against using the N-word period. But to say that to the President of the United States in front of the top people in media was at best in poor taste.”

Hey…. so can we all collectively agree to ignore the white thinkpieces on Larry Wilmore’s jokes and usage of nigga? #WHCD

— ToraShae (@BlackMajiik) May 1, 2016

Man, I haven’t seen this many white people this uncomfortable since Burlap Underwear Night at NASCAR #WHCD — Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 1, 2016

While opinions differ on whether or not Wilmore dropping the “n-word” in front of perhaps the whitest room in Washington DC was appropriate or effective the act was in keeping with the tradition of pulling no punches best exemplified by Stephen Colbert’s merciless critique of both the media and then President George W. Bush’s role in the American intervention in Iraq. Wilmore has secured his place among most talked about WHCD hosts.

After his highly skewered performance Wilmore said in an interview:

“I knew that it would be provocative and yes, I was taking a big chance. But you know what, it was just a creative expression that I made at the time. I don’t know if I would take it back. At this point, I think it may open up a dialogue that at the end of the day is probably pretty good. And if I have to take the heat for it, that’s OK. Part of my job is to take the heat. I certainly dished out a lot of stuff.”