Apology is sought from ‘View’ hosts

An Asian American media watchdog group is demanding an apology from “The View’s” Rosie O’Donnell and Joy Behar for their recent on-air mimicking of the Chinese language.

While referring to guest Danny DeVito’s recent and highly publicized visit to their show, in which he appeared drunk, O’Donnell said: “The fact is that it’s news all over the world! You can imagine in China, it’s like, ‘Ching chong ching ching ching chong -- Danny DeVito -- ching ching chong chong chong -- drunk -- ‘The View’ -- ching chong!”

“Many Asian Americans have experienced classmates taunting them with ‘ching chong’ imitations of how Chinese -- or Asian people in general -- supposedly speak,” said Guy Aoki, the founding president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans. “It’s a way to denigrate us and perpetuate the notion that we’re these strange people who speak a strange language.”

In 2002, the derisive term gained notoriety when NBA basketball star Shaquille O’Neal used it on a sports radio program in reference to NBA rookie Yao Ming. In 2004, morning radio personality Adam Carolla of KSLX-FM (97.1) also employed the term in a comic bit about the Asian Excellence Awards. Both later apologized for the usage.