In a wide ranging interview in Rolling Stone to promote her podcast and new comedy special PostMortem, comedian Sarah Silverman again reflected on some of her past mistakes.
But not everyone is happy with what they consider a non-apology for her racist behavior.
As she did when she got called out by Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) in 2001 for using a slur directed at Chinese people, Silverman gave herself a pass on accountability.
In 2001 she refused to apologize for using the anti-Asian racial slur in an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Now in 2025, Silverman acknowledged that she said and did racist things, like using racial slurs and donning blackface, but her "intentions were always good."
From 2007-2010, The Sarah Silverman Program ran on Comedy Central and featured multiple instances of Silverman and other cast members using racial slurs and doing blackface.
She told Rolling Stone:
"I felt like the temperature of the world around me at the time was, ‘We are all liberal so we can say the n-word. We aren’t racist, so we can say this derogatory stuff."
"I was playing a character that was arrogant and ignorant, so I thought it was OK. Looking back, my intentions were always good, but they were f*cking ignorant."
While some people are calling this statement an apology, a lot of people are pushing back on that narrative.
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An apology is fairly simple and straightforward. It includes the words "I'm sorry" or "I apologize." It doesn't include reasons, justifications, and excuses.
Until that sort of statement comes from Silverman, many people are unwilling to forgive and forget her racist past.
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