Amy Schumer is firing back at critics of her no-holds-barred comedy who accused her of being racist, saying she is not and that she also will not "start joking about safe material."
The 34-year-old popular raunchy comedienne occasionally makes racially-charged jokes during her sets, as do many standup comics of all backgrounds. Schumer, whose soaring popularity landed her a role in Judd Apatow's new movie Trainwreck, also told a few during a 2012 Comedy Central special titled, "Mostly Sex Stuff."
"I will joke about things you like and I will joke about things you aren't comfortable with," she said in a lengthy picture post on Twitter on Sunday. "And that's OK. Stick with me and trust I am joking. I go in and out of playing an irreverent idiot. That includes making dumb jokes involving race. I enjoy playing the girl who time to time says the dumbest thing possible and playing with race is a thing we are not supposed to do, which is what makes it so fun for comics."
"You can call it a 'blind spot for racism' or 'lazy' but you are wrong," Schumer said. "It is a joke and it is funny. I know that because people laugh at it. Even if you personally did not. I am not going to start joking about safe material. And don't ask that of me. I love what I do and won't let anyone take that away."
The Guardian writer Monica Heisey had said in an article, published on Sunday, that Schumer "has a shockingly large blind spot around race," citing a joke about Hispanic women that she told while hosting the 2015 MTV Movie Awards.
In her opening monologue, Schumer had described the movie Gone Girl as "the story of what one crazed white woman or all Latinas do if you cheat on them." MTV had then aired a shot of Jennifer Lopez appearing uncomfortable.
Schumer said in her tweet she is "not a racist" but rather "a devout feminist and lover of all people."
"My fight is for all people to be treated equally," she said.