Instagram | @kevinbacon

Kevin Bacon Says It’s Time For ‘Old White Guys Like Me To Just Shut Up And Listen’

Updated August 16, 2021

In wake of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the globe, Kevin Bacon believes it's time for "old white guys" like himself to take a step back and listen to black people and their lived experiences.

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Fans of Kevin Bacon know the actor has BEEN woke.

So when he sat down virtually with Jimmy Fallon on his late night talk show, Kevin expressed his belief that old white dudes like himself need to just SHUT UP AND LISTEN!

"For an old guy like me, I was born in 1958, and to witness the passion of the young people across the world for social justice, it leaves me speechless, which is probably a good idea, because I think it’s a good time for old white guys like me to just shut up and listen," he said.

YouTube | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

"So speechless is probably a good choice."

"I mean, I really have been trying to take this as a time to first admit that I don’t have a full understanding of the life experience of people that are different than me.

YouTube | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

"And I will never have a full understanding of that,” the 61-year-old continued.

"I’ll tell you Jimmy, I’m one of those people, like, when I was a kid I thought I knew everything. I thought I knew everything about acting, everything about music, everything about politics, everything about people,” he continued.

YouTube | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

"I thought I could always understand what it was like to be other people. I had a lot of compassion. And basically I just thought I knew it all. I was a know-it-all. And the older I’ve gotten the more I realized how much there is still to learn.”

He explained that this moment in history "has been the perfect example of a good time for me to stop and learn and listen and read and just try to gain some kind of deeper understanding… Here’s the thing: I’ll never understand it ’cause when I walk out of the house I’m white. And to not have that experience and privilege is something that I want to just kind of educate myself on."

Getty Images | Frederick M. Brown

To find out more about the Black Lives Matter movement, please click here.

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