Former late-night talk show host Jay Leno is apologizing for his years of jokes targeted at the Asian community. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increased number of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S have been committed.
A recent report released by Stop AAPI Hate revealed that there have been at least 3,795 hate incidents targeting the AAPI community from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021. More than 500 of those incidences have occurred in 2021.