--- description: The comedian drew ire after an out-of-context tweet was sent from his Colbert Report account title: An out-of-context tweet has inspired the #CancelColbert hashtag image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6687181bef1ab2/698687caf983e72d1b04d013/468803569.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Colbert Tweet Draws Accusations of Racism and #CancelColbert by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 28, 2014 12:37 PM CUT  Stephen Colbert arrives at the White House in Washington on Feb. 11, 2014 for the state dinner in honor of French President Francois Hollande. Stephen Colbert arrives at the White House in Washington on Feb. 11, 2014 for the state dinner in honor of French President Francois Hollande.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 28, 2014 12:37 PM CUT Stephen Colbert has built [his career](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/03/27/stephen-colbert-racism-tweet-cancelcolbert/ "undefined") out of playing the overly offensive character we all know and love on _The Colbert Report_. But while most viewers realize his non-PC humor and even downright offensive gags are satire, his character’s nuance can get lost on Twitter. Case in point: a tweet from his [_Colbert Repor_t account](https://twitter.com/ColbertReport "undefined") attempted to mock Asian stereotypes and, instead, caused real offense and spawned a #CancelColbert hashtag. The since-deleted tweet read: “I’m willing to show the #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” Colbert later said he didn’t write the tweet and was unsure who did, _USA Today_ [reports](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/03/27/stephen-colbert-tweet-angers-asians/6991725/ "undefined"). According to [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/03/27/stephen-colbert-racism-tweet-cancelcolbert/ "undefined")_,_ the tweet “was originally a quote from Wednesday night’s show. But during the episode segment, the joke was in a clear context—Colbert was mocking Redskins owner Dan Snyder for responding to complaints about his team name by announcing a foundation to help Native Americans.” Without that context, Colbert’s tweet read as just plain offensive to some and stirred up a lot of anger and backlash. Of course, Colbert has always been upfront in the past about the incendiary character he plays on his show, which is meant to be a send-up of offensive conservatism. For his part, Colbert acknowledged—and appeared to agree with—the outrage from his own personal Twitter account: > [](https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/449396208533270529) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/41453/stephen-colbert-report-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/41453/stephen-colbert-report-tweet/"},"headline":"Colbert Tweet Draws Accusations of Racism and #CancelColbert","datePublished":"2014-03-28T12:37:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:01:09.702Z","description":"A now-deleted tweet from the account linked to his show The Colbert Report has comedian Stephen Colbert on the defensive, saying he wasn't aware who wrote the post that aimed to mock Asian stereotypes and was reportedly taken out of context from a recent show","url":"https://time.com/41453/stephen-colbert-report-tweet/","keywords":["Television","twitter","Racism","stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6687181bef1ab2/698687caf983e72d1b04d013/468803569.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Gibson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6687181bef1ab2/698687caf983e72d1b04d013/468803569.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-FRANCE-DIPLOMACY","caption":"US-FRANCE-DIPLOMACY","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/41453/stephen-colbert-report-tweet/","name":"Colbert Tweet Draws Accusations of Racism and #CancelColbert"}}]}] ```