Oh Shut Up, Internet: Zach Braff Is Not Racist (Just Careless)

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | February 11, 2015 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | February 11, 2015 |

I don’t really know why — unless it was my anti, Wish I Was Here Kickstarter rants, or Viv’s Wish I Was Here review — but Zach Braff blocked me on Twitter a few weeks ago. As far as I know, he’s only the second person who has ever blocked me (the other one was from my younger, more assholery days), and it’s ironic only in the sense that literally no one the Internet still writes more about their affection for Scrubs than I. It remains my all-time favorite sitcom.

Despite being blocked by Braff, I know this much is true: Zach Braff is not a racist, as Salon.com seems to imply. A douchebag on Punk’d? Sure. Galling? Frequently! But a racist? No fucking way.

Here’s the since deleted tweet that sparked the accusations of racism:

Grammys are time-delayed in LA (?!) but someone just sent me this: #IWoreItBetter pic.twitter.com/5R9yMJREDo

Here is the pic accompanying the tweet (the pic is from another person’s Twitter account, since Braff deleted his):

Was that a dumb tweet? Oh God, yes! Was it careless. ABSOLUTELY, even despite the fact that Braff was in Oz, and the bellhop uniforms are remarkably similar, so one might understand why it was his first point of reference.

But is Braff a racist? Are you f*cking kidding me? I mean, the “black friend” defense is the worst defense against accusations of racism in the history of mankind, but Braff’s best friend, his lifelong partner, his “Guy Love” companion is Donald Faision with whom he was watching the Grammys when he posted the tweet. That friendship was not just on the show. Look at their respective Instagram accounts. They still spend all their time together.

It was still a dumb tweet, one for which Zach Braff has appropriately apologized. But let us not mistake carelessness for racism.

I love Pharrell. I thought the outfit he wore was similar to that of my bell hop outfit in Oz. I apologize.

— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) February 9, 2015