During her appearance on The Tonight Show last night, Wanda Sykes spoke candidly about her new family, Prop. 8, the controversy surrounding her White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech and what the press means when they say “the real Michelle Obama.”
Ostensibly, Sykes stopped by to promote a gig she and Jay Leno will be co-hosting in Atlantic City this weekend, but all the baby talk makes me think she just wanted to take her doting to a larger audience. In typical fashion, though, she tempered her maternal affection with biting wit. “Babies are so inconsiderate,” she said about her twins’ super-long delivery. “I’m like, hurry up; I got a gig. I got to get out to the clubs and work my magic!”
My favorite part of the interview was when Leno asked her about reality couple John and Kate, whose tumultuous relationship is the current fodder on which tabloids are gorging themselves. At first Sykes called them jackasses, but then defended John. “That man ain’t cheating. Eight babies? No. Look, I tell my wife: If you catch me in bed with another woman, I’m just there for a nap.”
When Leno asked her about the controversy swirling around her speech at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, she said she found out about it from friends. “Somebody called you a black [bleeped expletive],” she said about a text she received the following day. “I was like, ‘What the hell? How about happy Mother’s Day?'”
She said President Obama and the First Lady were warm and gracious after the dinner, and explained what “the real Michelle Obama” actually means.
That’s the only clip available of last night’s show, but you can watch the Sykes full appearance (she’s the first guest) on NBC.com. It’s worth sitting through the commercials to hear Sykes talk about her wife’s reaction to Prop.8, and how they split up the baby duties in their home.
Watching Sykes and Leno speak openly about her marriage and children without making an issue out of her sexuality is refreshing. Since coming out after Prop. 8, Sykes has assumed the role of a spokesperson of the LGBT community with grace and humor. She doesn’t shy away from talking about her wife, and refuses to present their story as anything other than normal.
What do you think of Sykes’ appearance on The Tonight Show?<?p>
