'Pat McAfee Show' Star Under Fire For Joke About Japanese History And Suicide

"Pat McAfee Show" member Boston Connor is taking heat online for having the audacity to joke about Nebraska star Keisei Tominaga.

Tominaga, who is from Japan, and the Cornhuskers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Texas A&M.

The Japanese-born player has captivated college basketball fans over the years, but simply didn't get the job done to win a game in the tournament.

Keisei Tominaga and Nebraska lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Boston Connor jokes about Keisei Tominaga.

Boston Connor - real name Connor Campbell - did a sketch on the Monday episode of the show reporting from the "Rumor Mill" dressed as a blue-collar mill worker. He joked that Tominaga had committed seppuku after losing to the Aggies.

Seppuku is the old Japanese tradition of killing yourself after bringing dishonor to yourself or your family. The reactions to the sketch were overwhelmingly positive on social media because normal people know a joke when they hear one.

Give it a watch below, decide for yourself what you think and then let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

Boston Connor sparks unnecessary outrage with joke about Japanese history.

Unlike most people on social media who saw the situation for what it was - a funny sketch - others were livid and accused Boston Connor of racism.

Awful Announcing took to its lecture podium, and wrote the following, in part:

"This entire exchange was, at best, in poor taste, and at worst, racist.

While the show was clearly joking, it’s not often that you hear suicide being laughed about on ESPN airwaves. (And suicide references have drawn criticism for other broadcasters.) And it’s obviously problematic that Campbell would invoke a Japanese stereotype while doing so, as it’s hard to imagine that he would have made the same joke had the player in question been of a different nationality.

It’s also curious that The Pat McAfee Show, itself, promoted the clip. It’s one thing for an outlet like this one to catch the show saying something controversial. It’s another for the show to use its social media to draw attention to such a comment."

"At worst, racist."

Interesting claim seeing as how being Japanese is a nationality - not a race. A simple Google search could tell everyone the difference between race, ethnicity and nationality, but I guess that was a bit too much for Awful Announcing.

Sporting News added the following with its analysis:

It seemed a rather tasteless interaction, admittedly. Those who "joke" about suicide are often reprimanded — just look at Terry Bradshaw and Padres radio host Kevin Klein. The fact that Campbell invoked a Japanese stereotype to do so is especially hard to reckon with; it seems rather unlikely Campbell would have made the same type of joke toward a non-Japanese player.

There were also some on X not overly entertained.

Let me be clear. You can find the comments hilarious as most did, or you can find them grossly offensive. That's your right as an American. However, the one thing they're definitely not is racist. In order for it to be racist - again, it wasn't - it would have to be about a race of people, not a nationality. Yet, all the geniuses opining online clearly don't know the difference.

When referring to a culture and country of origin, it's nationality. It's not race. If people don't know the difference, then save yourself the embarrassment of making foolish comments.

Furthermore, the entire point of the skit is that Boston Connor as a member of the "Rumor Mill" is saying outrageously false information. It's very literally making fun of the online rumor mill.

For the sake of argument, let's assume the comments were actually wildly offensive. They weren't, but let's pretend they were. Would it even matter? The point of comedy is to push the limits, make people uncomfortable at times and go to places you otherwise wouldn't.

As legendary comedian Patrice O'Neal famously said, not all jokes might end up being funny, but the attempt at making the joke must be defended at all costs.

Lastly, joking about history is 100% fine. There's literally nothing wrong about it. You can't get on Instagram on any given day and not see plenty of reels joking about WWII. If we're not allowed to joke about history, then what can we joke about? Seppuku was a very real thing in Japan. If you have an issue with it, then take it up with the people who lived in Japan hundreds of years ago. It isn't Boston Connor's fault Japanese people committed suicide over honor infractions. We can't get to a point in society where jokes require outrage and apologies. That's not the sign of a healthy society. Boston Connor did nothing wrong, and has nothing to apologize for. Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com if you agree.