Chris Rock on Jimmy Fallon’s Blackface Impression: “I Don’t Think [He] Intended to Hurt Me”

Chris Rock is giving his take on Jimmy Fallon‘s blackface video. While Fallon faced criticism for his impression of Rock from a 2000 episode of Saturday Night Live, Rock himself seems pretty unfazed about the whole thing. Entertainment Weekly reports that the comedian forgave Fallon for his impression in an interview today with the New York Times.

When asked how he felt about Fallon’s blackface segment, Rock defended his friend. “Hey, man, I’m friends with Jimmy,” he said. “Jimmy’s a great guy. And he didn’t mean anything. A lot of people want to say intention doesn’t matter, but it does. And I don’t think Jimmy Fallon intended to hurt me. And he didn’t.”

Rock went on to share his thoughts on blackface in film and TV in general. When asked if people are taking it too far with removing blackface from old episodes and movies, he replied, “If I say they are, then I’m the worst guy in the world. There’s literally one answer that ends my whole career. Blackface ain’t cool, OK? That’s my quote,” adding, “Blackface is bad. Who needs it? It’s so sad, we live in a world now where you have to say, I am so against cancer. ‘I just assumed you liked cancer.’ No, no, no, I am so against it. You have to state so many obvious things you’re against.”

In a separate interview with the Hollywood Reporter published today, Rock described Fallon’s SNL sketch as “bad comedy,” but insisted that the late night host “doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.”

Fallon previously apologized for his impression of Rock, admitting that it was a “terrible decision” to play the comedian using blackface. “There is no excuse for this,” he wrote on Twitter. “I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”