Jimmy Fallon Draws Fire for Calling Trans Actor 'Bud' Amid Already Bad Year for Tonight Show Host
Jimmy Fallon is in hot water with some of his audience.
The “Tonight” show host angered his largely progressive viewership by referring to trans actor Hunter Schafer as “bud” during a Nov. 17 interview about the actor’s latest role in the newly released prequel to “The Hunger Games.”
Schafer explained to Fallon he previously dressed up as a character in the franchise when he was a child.
“For Halloween, I was obsessed with how the capitol people were in costume and made my own costume,” Schafer stated.
“Oh bud, it’s unbelievable!” Fallon replied.
“This is really cool, now you’re in ‘Hunger Games’ — as a capitol person!”
The comments quickly drew reaction from some of the show’s viewers, one of whom pointed out that the word is “unquestionably male-coded.”
as if i didn’t have reason enough to hate Fallon, he takes this opportunity to show that he doesn’t see Hunter as the beautiful, immaculate queen sitting before him
to my cis readers, i hope you don’t see this as an overreaction—bud/buddy is unquestionably male-coded https://t.co/gzrf9cIHCk
— TheAverageGirlLovesFall 🍁🏳️⚧️ (@thearae60) November 20, 2023
jimmy fallon calling hunter schafer “bud” i am going to [redacted]
— Official Lsies (@lsiesOfficial) November 20, 2023
This is one of those rare instances where everyone complaining in the QTs are kinda right. On one hand, I have seen videos of Jimmy Fallon calling his guests “bud”, both men & women. On the other, this is an example of how not every trans person enjoys gender ambiguous hailnames. https://t.co/NawVmZOZpt
— 𝐛𝐫∞𝐤 (@htsvzn) November 19, 2023
Another complained that the transgender community is sick of being subjected to such “microaggressions.”
This is one of those rare instances where everyone complaining in the QTs are kinda right. On one hand, I have seen videos of Jimmy Fallon calling his guests “bud”, both men & women. On the other, this is an example of how not every trans person enjoys gender ambiguous hailnames. https://t.co/NawVmZOZpt
— 𝐛𝐫∞𝐤 (@htsvzn) November 19, 2023
However, not all the reaction was so critical.
Some fans leapt to the host’s defense, pointing out that he regularly refers to his guests as “bud,” regardless of their gender.
I’m not gonna qrt that bud jimmy Fallon tweet cuz im not a trans woman and thus am not going to insert Mt opinion and contribute to possible dog piling but I never thought of bud as a gendered term I thought it was just short for buddy which was a term of friendly endearment 😭
— nyxelodeonXD (@nyxeIodeonXD) November 19, 2023
Calling hunter schafer “bud” is the least annoying thing jimmy fallon has ever done https://t.co/CdDlfgkBhY
— A Low IQ Moron (@lowiqmoron) November 21, 2023
People criticizing Jimmy Fallon bc he called Hunter Schafer bud are total morons. You can call anyone bud. Doesn’t have to be a woman or a man. This is so stupid that anyone would actually care about this with all the shit we have going on in this world this is what’s an issue?
— Ryan Anthony (@EUPH0RIC_RUSH) November 23, 2023
The controversy caps off a difficult few months for Fallon, who was recently forced to apologize following a Rolling Stone report about his creation of a toxic work environment.
“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends,” Fallon said during a Zoom meeting in September, according to Variety.
“I feel so bad I can’t even tell you,” he continued. “I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people.”
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