The Daily Caller got its hands on some old video from a school fundraiser attended by Tom Hanks. In the 2004 video, you hear Hanks make a joke as one of the school parents — in blackface, with an Afro wig, holding a stuffed gorilla — approaches Hanks on stage. Hanks says: “Ladies and gentlemen, a celebrity in our midst! Who would have thought that Bill O’Reilly would join us?”
Yesterday, Hanks emailed the Daily Caller with this apology: “I used Bill O’Reilly as the punch line of an uncomfortable joke that was hardly funny and [was] unfair. I have no reason to think Mr. O’Reilly would have found both the reason for the joke nor my use of it funny in any way.”
O’Reilly discussed it on his show last night, saying, “I don’t think the guy did it on purpose. I just think he was … probably had a couple cocktails and walking around trying to be a wise guy.”
O’Reilly also deadpanned that he thought he and Hanks were “bosom buddies.“