Stephen Colbert Deletes Show’s Official Twitter Account Following Racism Controversy Sparked By #CancelColbert

Stephen Colbert removed the official Twitter account of his show, “The Colbert Report,” from the microblogging site days after a controversial tweet, which was perceived as racist by many, produced a backlash in the form of the #CancelColbert campaign.

Colbert worked with Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, on Monday, to delete the show's Twitter account permanently after #CancelColbert went viral following a tweet last Thursday from the account, which was deemed racist by the Asian community. The backlash on Twitter also prompted Colbert to respond to the controversy on his entire show, "The Colbert Report," on Monday night and again on Tuesday.

"I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever," read the offensive tweet, which was a dig aimed at a move by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to name his nonprofit, "The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation."

Colbert reportedly addressed his viewers on Tuesday saying: "Folks, I'm still here." He added: "The dark forces trying to silence my message of core conservative principles mixed with youth friendly product placement have been thwarted."

He spoke on his show about how close he was getting to be cancelled after the controversy. "We almost lost me," he said, adding: "I'm never going to take me for granted ever again."

On Monday, Colbert dedicated a segment titled “Who’s Attacking Me Now?” to address the controversy, saying that his creation was inspired by Snyder's new charity.

"Internet equality is more important than ever, as I learned this weekend when the interwebs tried to swallow me whole," he explained. "But I am proud to say that I got lodged in its throat and it hacked me back up like a hastily chewed chicken wing."

According to Daily News, Colbert admitted that he understood that the tweet, without the context in which the joke was made on the show, offended some people, and that he was not a racist because, “I don’t even see race.”

He went on to add that he was excited on seeing how the #CancelColbert hashtag was trending for more than 36 hours “because everybody wants to talk about the king.”

"Who would have thought a means of communication limited to 140 characters would ever create misunderstandings?" he said. "CNN even took a break from their Malaysian airliner coverage to report spotting what they thought was the wreckage of my show off the coast of Australia."

Check out the video of the segment "Who’s Attacking Me Now?" here: