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8
Oct
2009
Harry Connick Jr. Upset At Blackface Skit
During a taping of a live Australian variety show, Harry Connick Jr. was put on the spot, and visibly not happy about a skit that he had to judge. Everything seemed to be fine when the group was introduced as “The Jackson Jive“, but when they walked out on stage it was a different story. The group came out parodying the Jackson Five, but dressed in blackface. Definitely a jackass move on behalf of the shows production that let these idiots go on stage.
It seemed as though Harry so shocked, that he didn’t know what to say. When it was one judges opportunity to comment and score, she had said the she thought that they were “very cute.” When it was Harry’s turn to comment and give the assholes group a score, Harry, 42, gave them a zero score and told them that if it had been done in the United States it would have been pulled off the air. He later ended up walking off the set.
Host Daryl Somers gave a half-assed apology to Harry at the end of the live show stating, “I know that to your countrymen, that’s an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologize to you.” Harry said he would not have appeared on the show if he’d known about the skit.
“I just want to say, on behalf of my country, I know it was done humorously, but we’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that we take it really to heart.”
Anand Deva, the frontman of the “Jackson Jive” act, said it was not meant to cause offense but added he would not have performed it in the United States. Yeah no shit….The show would have cut to commercial and then they would have gotten a serious ass-whippin’.
Hats off to Harry for stepping up and doing the right thing.