Reaction to the phrase was strong and swift.
Comedian Larry Wilmore dropped the N-word at the end of his speech during Saturday’s White House Correspondents' Dinner -- and viewers were shocked.
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“Yo Barry, you did it my n***a,” Wilmore said to President Obama as he ended his speech.
Reaction to the phrase was strong and swift. Rev. Al Sharpton told The L.A. Times: “Many of us are against using the N-Word. Period.”
CNN's Van Jones tweeted:
Not that I've been asked to do so recently. But I will never appear on any program with @larrywilmore as a host. #Disgraceful #NerdProm
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) May 1, 2016
An unnamed Capitol Hill insider told Page Six: “He went too far for Washington.”
CNN's Kate Bolduan told IE: "That final line that Larry Wilmore delivered will be remembered."
"That is what these guys come to do, they come to start conversations and they did," Dana Bash of CNN told IE.
Monday's New York Daily News said Wilmore's joke "breaks the rules."
Sunny Hostin said on Monday's View: "I think using the N-word when you have the first black president of the United States sitting there, having him for two terms of a presidency, was so disrespectful. It was so inappropriate."
But the president didn't seem to mind when he hugged the Nightly Show host.
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During his 20-minute speech, Wilmore also took a swipe at CNN’s Don Lemon.
“Some of America’s finest black journalists are here tonight. Don Lemon’s here too,” Wilmore joked.
Lemon flipped Wilmore the bird, then took to Twitter to say it was all for comedy.
All in good fun. I love @larrywilmore. #WHCD pic.twitter.com/AxrWnr1sBh
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) May 1, 2016
Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata tweeted: "This is the blackest correspondents dinner ever and I LOVE it #WHCD".
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