Amy Schumer to critics: "I am not racist"
Amy Schumer is firing back at critics who say her comedy material features racially insensitive jokes.
The 34-year-old comic took to Twitter Sunday with lengthy message in which she explains her approach to comedy, writing: "I am not racist."
Although she didn't mention it directly, her commentary seems to be in response to an article published Sunday in the U.K.'s Guardian, which said Schumer has a "shockingly large blind spot around race."
The piece, written by Monica Heisey, called her MTV Movie Awards hosting stint "lackluster," noting it "featured lazy jokes about Latina women being 'crazy' that left Jennifer Lopez as unimpressed as the online commentariat."
Now Schumer is firing back, explaining in her Twitter post, "I am a comic. I am so glad more people are laughing at me and with me all of a sudden. I will joke about things you like, and I will joke about things you aren't comfortable with... I go in and out of playing an irreverent idiot. That includes making dumb jokes about race."
Schumer continued to say that she is not going to chicken out and dull her edgy material. "I am not going to start joking about safe material. And don't ask that of me. I love what I do and won't let anyone take that away. I ask you to resist the urge to pick me apart. Trust me. I am not racist."
Schumer is the host of "Inside Amy Schumer" and will star in Judd Apatow's new comedy 'Trainwreck," which opens in theaters on July 17.
