Names and faces

Satirist Stephen Colbert is under fire for what some people are calling a racially biased tweet sent from the account of his show, The Colbert Report. The mes-ed Thursday afternoon was a play on Asian stereotypes. It was pulled from a segment on Wednesday’s show mocking Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder for responding to pressure to change his team’s name by instead setting up a charity to aid American Indians. The tweet read, “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” But taken out of the larger context, many Twitter users thought the message trafficked in the very racial insensitivity the show was originally trying to lampoon.By Thursday evening, the hashtag #CancelColbert was trending on Twitter, with users, assuming the tweet had been sent by Colbert rather than a representative of his show, personally blasting the host. Subsequent tweets from Colbert Report explained the context and clarified that Colbert himself does not administer the account. Colbert weighed in humorously from his personal account saying, “#CancelColbert - I agree! Just saw Colbert Report tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I’m Stephen-AtHome.”

Inspired by a former president, Shirley Jones can’t wait to jump into her birthday plans. The Oscar-winning actress and singer said she will take her firstsky dive on Monday - her 80th birthday. The inspiration to try it came from former President George H.W. Bush’s jumps on several birthdays, including when he turned 85 in 2009. “When I saw him do it I thought, ‘Wow, if he can do this, I can,’” Jones said Friday. Jones, who starred in TV’s The Partridge Family in the 1970s, gained fame with the 1950s film versions of the Broadway musicals Oklahoma! and Carousel. She won an Oscar for the 1960 drama Elmer Gantry. Her husband, comedian Marty Ingels, was taken aback when she suggested the adventure but has since come around, Jones said.