Jimmy Kimmel apologized Tuesday for his 1990s blackface impressions of NBA player Karl Malone and other Black celebrities but said his delay in addressing the subject came in part to avoid handing a victory to his foes.

Kimmel’s impersonation of Malone, which he started on radio and then brought to television on Comedy Central, was criticized by Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, among others.

Fox News’ website on Monday had a story about Kimmel using a common slur against Blacks on a 1996 comedy song, and about times Kimmel had imitated the voices of Black personalities.

Kimmel said that he had never considered his Malone skits would be seen as anything other than an imitation of a fellow human being, “one that had no more to do with Karl’s skin color than it did his bulging muscles and bald head.”

Last weekend, Fox News Channel guest Kat Timpf mocked Kimmel’s explanation that he was taking the summer off to spend time with his family.