His decision to cosplay Doc Brown unsurprisingly raises some questions among people since it was just a week ago that Kelly ultimately lost her job due to controversial blackface comments.
- Nov 1, 2018
AceShowbiz - Al Roker is trying to prove a point. For the Wednesday, October 31 Halloween broadcast, the TV hosts of "Today" show attempted to re-enact the '80s most iconic movie scenes as well as pay homage to its musical icons. Roker opted to dress as Doc Brown, who was played by Christopher Lloyd.
His decision to cosplay a character played by a Caucasian actor unsurprisingly raised some questions among people since it was just a week ago that Megyn Kelly ultimately lost her job over her controversial remarks in which she defended white people doing blackface for Halloween.
My @TODAYshow crowd #rocked the #80s#movies and music. Next few tweets just a melange of #behindthescenes of the fun as captured by @nathancongletonpic.twitter.com/BoCmesGCj0
— Al Roker (@alroker) October 31, 2018
"@alroker: @megynkelly is a terrible person to even suggest that it is Ok for a white person to go as a black character for Halloween. Also @alroker: Goes as Doc brown, a white character from a movie for halloween. #Hypocrites #Whiteface," said a Twitter user.
@alroker: @megynkelly is a terrible person to even suggest that it is Ok for a white person to go as a black character for Halloween.
— BigLargeTime (@BigLargeTime) October 31, 2018
Also @alroker: Goes as Doc brown, a white character from a movie for halloween.#Hypocrites#Whiteface
Similarly, another user comment on the morning show's Facebook page, "So here's my question... Megyn Kelly loses her show because she posed a question about dressing as an admired character of color if you are of Caucasian background -- and yet Al Roker dresses today as a beloved character from an iconic movie who happens to be Caucasian. Is there some hypocrisy in there?"
The host quickly responded to the criticism, explaining that it was okay to cosplay as someone not your race as long as you "don't color your skin." Taking to his Twitter account, the 64-year-old wrote, "I'm going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON'T, won't. 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!"
I’m going to say this one last time, but the folks who get it, understand and the ones who DON’T, won’t. 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 (@alroker) October 31, 2018
Following the controversy surrounding Kelly, Roker took part in condemning her commentary. Speaking to Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, the weather anchor said last week, "The fact is, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the county."
"This is a history, going back to the 1830s [with] minstrel shows. To demean and denigrate a race wasn't right," he continued. "I'm old enough to have lived through Amos 'n' Andy where you had white people in blackface playing two black characters just magnifying the stereotypes about black people. And that's what the big problem is. ... No good comes from it. It's just not right."
Kelly had apologized twice for her comments, but then NBC decided to officially canceled "Megyn Kelly Today" as of Friday, October 26.
