Larry Wilmore Dropped the N-Word at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and Twitter Went Crazy

Olivia B. Waxman
Updated
Social media users debated whether it was appropriate to use the word in front of President Barack Obama

Larry Wilmore, host of Comedy Central’s satirical news program The Nightly Show, has gotten mixed reviews for using the N-word at the end of his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.

“Yo Barry, you did it my n—a,” Wilmore said to President Obama at the close of his remarks.

Shortly after the event, the Rev. Al Sharpton said that the use of the word in front of Obama was “at best in poor taste,” while Saturday Night Live cast member Sasheer Zamata tweeted, “This is the blackest correspondents dinner ever and I LOVE it.”

Here is a glimpse at the rest of the reaction on Twitter immediately following the event:

In June 2015, Wilmore also made headlines for using the word twice uncensored on his cable show, while just a couple of days prior, Obama used it in a candid podcast interview with Marc Maron about race relations in America.