Currently the only African-American host on late night television, Larry Moore, 53, made fun of the recent controversy about the exclusion of "Selma" director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo in the 2015 Academy Award nominations.
During the premiere of "The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore" on Comedy Central on Jan. 19, Monday, Wilmore commented on race relations, racial profiling, police brutality, the Ferguson case and the recent biographical movie about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which also stars multi-awarded talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
"We talk 'Selma,' Ferguson, and Eric Garner," Wilmore said opening the show originally hosted by Stephen Colbert. "It's Comedy Central's worst nightmare; brother finally gets a show in late night TV. But, of course, he's gotta work on Martin Luther King Day."
"I wish there was a black Hollywood expert who could go to bat for us," Wilmore said about the Oscar snubs for "Selma" before showing a news clip of President Barack Obama's adviser Al Sharpton calling for an emergency meeting to discuss "possible action around the Academy Awards."
Wilmore also managed to crack a joke from the controversial death of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man killed when cops used a chokehold on him. After mentioning the recent agreement between the United States and China to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Wilmore said that if the world will not "just be black people saying 'I can't breathe'" if it does not figure out a way to deal with climate control.
"Oh, too soon?" Wilmore asked when some in the studio audience murmured. "Yeah, I choked him. Thank you very much."