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Thursday May 17, 2012 06:48 PM EST |
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Previous Leno Jabs Not Found
By Anju Kaur, SikhNN staff writer, Washington Bureau
Posted: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 | 12:12 am
Comedian Jay Leno during his Jan. 19 monologue in which he equated Darbar Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, to Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney’s, lavish summer home. Claims that he insulted Sikhs in 2007 and 2010 were inaccurate.
Photo Source: YouTube
Comedian Jay Leno during his Jan. 19 monologue in which he equated Darbar Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, to Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney’s, lavish summer home. Claims that he insulted Sikhs in 2007 and 2010 were inaccurate.
Photo Source: YouTube
A thorough search of Jay Leno’s monologues show that claims by two California Sikhs that the comedian insulted the community with his monologues in 2007, in which he allegedly called Sikhs ‘diaper heads,’ and in 2010, in which he allegedly embellished about the president’s cancellation of the Darbar Sahib trip because he had to wear a turban, were inaccurate.
A source close to The Tonight Show, and its parent organization, National Broadcasting Corporation, provided SikhNN with a transcript of the only monologue in which Leno mentioned ‘diaper’ and ‘head’ in the same sentence, but not together. And it had nothing to do with Sikhs.
On Friday, July 27, 2007, Leno said: “A panel investigating NASA found “a heavy use of alcohol by astronauts before launches.” …They said today on one mission, the astronauts were so drunk they were actually wearing their diapers on their heads.”
A thorough search of Leno’s 2010 monologues, by the same source, showed no reference by Leno to President Obama’s cancellation of the Darbar Sahib visit.
The New York Times first reported that Obama cancelled the visit because he would have to cover his head. The story was widely reported in American news media. The White House denied the allegation.
The alleged 2007 and 2010 instances were used to support an online petition and a libel lawsuit launched last week against Leno for his recent monologue in which he equated Darbar Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, to Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney’s, lavish summer home.
“This is not the first time that this show host has targeted Sikhs in his monologue,” Harjot Singh Khalsa, of Milpitas, originally said in his petition. “Previously, in 2007 he called Sikhs ‘diaper heads.’ In 2010, he remarked, falsely so, in his monologue that President Obama could not visit Sri Darbar Sahib because of requirements of wearing a turban. Clearly, Jay Leno’s racist comments need to be stopped right here.”
In light of the 2007 transcript, Harjot Singh yesterday removed that reference from his petition, but not the 2010 reference.
“I remember watching that show in 2010,” he told SikhNN by email. “I also read his top 10 jokes on Google referring to President Obama’s visit to Golden Temple… So on the petition I won’t be removing Jay Leno’s remarks about President Obama in 2010 for not visiting Golden Temple because of turban issue.”
He is searching for that monologue, he said.
The Romney joke was third in a series of jabs involving the Sikh community, Randeep Singh Dhillon, of Bakersfield, previously told SikhNN.
“It’s been going on since 2007 and 2010,” he said. “Someone has to stop this.”
Although the legal statute of limitations has passed on the previous incidents, Randeep Singh has taken action on the Romney joke, said Indra Lahiri, his lawyer.
Doing business as Bol Punjabi All Regions Community Organization, Randeep Singh and Bol Punjabi filed a libel lawsuit on Jan. 23 against Leno and NBC at the California Superior Court in Los Angeles.
Lahiri today said he had no comment about the 2007 and 2010 claims or their inaccuracies because they are not mentioned in the lawsuit. Randeep Singh plans to continue with the lawsuit.
On Jan. 19, Jay Leno, host of the late-night Tonight Show, compared the homes of various Republican presidential candidates in his opening monologue. After showing pictures of Newt Gingrich’s and Ron Paul’s homes, a nighttime picture of the glistening Darbar Sahib flashed on the screen as the narrator said: “…And here’s a look at Mitt Romney’s summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee.” Applause.
The joke was directed at Romney’s immense wealth, countering his claims on the campaign trail of being able to identify with ordinary Americans. But Leno’s use of Darbar Sahib to make his point outraged many Sikhs here and abroad, and garnered unprecedented media attention in India. Major Indian news outlets reported on the joke, with many Indian politicians voicing their objections.
The lawsuit is called an over-reaction by some Sikhs, but all agree the controversy is being fueled and exploited by Indian politicians during this election season.
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Note: "Top 10 jokes," that Harjot Singh referred to is part of comedian David Letterman's monologue, not Jay Leno's.
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A thorough search of Jay Leno’s monologues show that claims by two California Sikhs that the comedian insulted the community with his monologues in 2007, in which he allegedly called Sikhs ‘diaper heads,’ and in 2010, in which he allegedly embellished about the president’s cancellation of the Darbar Sahib trip because he had to wear a turban, were inaccurate.
A libel lawsuit filed last week by a California Sikh against comedian Jay Leno is being called an over-reaction by some Sikhs, but Sikhs on both sides of the controversy agree the incident is being exploited by Indian politicians during this election season.
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