How I Met Your Mother Bosses Apologize for "Offensive" Kung Fu Homage

How I met your ... scandal?

No, we're not talking about a crazy crossover between the hit ABC drama and How I Met Your Mother. The latter series came under fire for a kung fu tribute featured during Monday's episode, "Slapsgiving #3: Slappointment in Slapmarra."

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In the episode, Marshall (Jason Segel) learned special kung fu moves so that his final slap for Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) would hurt as much as possible. Marshall's three kung fu teachers were played by Robin (Cobie Smulders), Lilly (Alyson Hannigan) and Ted (Josh Radnor) — who were all dressed in Asian-themed costumes. The episode drew fire on social media, and #HowIMetYourRacism started trending soon after.

On Wednesday, show creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas apologized for the questionable content and thanked viewers for bringing the issue to their attention. "With Monday's episode, we set out to make a silly and unabashedly immature homage to Kung Fu movies, a genre we've always loved. But along the way we offended people. We're deeply sorry, and we're grateful to everyone who spoke up to make us aware of it," Bays and Thomas said via Bays' Twitter account. "We try to make a show that's universal, that anyone can watch and enjoy. We fell short of that this week, and feel terrible about it. To everyone we offended, I hope we can regain your friendship, and end this series on a note of goodwill."

Did you find Monday's episode offensive? What do you think of Bays and Thomas' apology?

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