Actor Jamie Foxx Comes Under Fire for Allegedly Making Fun of Sign Language

Actor Jamie Foxx Comes Under Fire for Allegedly Making Fun of Sign Language

Jamie Foxx is catching a lot of flak for allegedly mocking deaf people during his appearance on Jimmy Fallon.According to E! News, the actor was captured making sign languages before the show host called for a commercial break. While many people didn’t notice anything wrong with what the actor did, famous activists Nyle DiMarco and Marlee Matlin have noted how wrong he was.

DiMarco took to his Twitter to call out the actor, noting the difficulties deaf people are facing in the world and why the actor’s outright mockery should not be tolerated.

“We simply do not make fun at the expense of other cultures, especially those with a history of being marginalized. When we do this, progress takes a step backward,” DiMarco said. “Sign Language is important to me because it’s the bedrock of Deaf culture. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities says Sign Language is a human right of deaf people, and out of the 70 million worldwide, only 2% have access to education in Sign Language.

“This is why I started the Nyle DiMarco Foundation. We are working with other organizations to ensure every deaf child has a usable language before the age of 5,” he said.

“What Foxx did on Fallon Tonight made our struggle that much harder.”

Marlee Matlin added to the outrage, saying, “Mr. @iamjamiefoxx. I’d be happy to give you sign language lessons so you could be funnier.”

This is first time the reserved actor would be accused of mocking the disabled. He had yet to react to the outrage as at press time.

Watch the clip that triggered the whole drama:

.@iamjamiefoxx, It is straight up disrespectful to make up sign language.

Everything is in gibberish. pic.twitter.com/X5AHkusq3o

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) May 27, 2017