Ant and Dec: We’re sorry for dressing up as people of colour
ITV duo ditch skits of them as rappers, Jamaican women and Japanese girls
ANT and Dec last night apologised for having done impersonations of ‘people of colour’ on their Saturday Night Takeaway show, saying it was ‘wrong’ and that they were ‘sincerely sorry’.
The presenting duo, both 44, said they ‘certainly would not make these sketches today’.
They added that they had taken steps to make sure the footage from the ITV show did not appear on the channel’s online service or the show’s YouTube channel.
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly appeared as Jamaican women Patty and Bernice on the show in 2003 as part of a prank played on the cast of the ITV soap Emmerdale.
In 2005 they appeared as rappers ‘Milk Z’ and ‘Donkey Man with the aid of make-up and prosthetics.
The pair had also dressed up as Japanese girls in 2004 and on another occasion Ant played an Arab man.
The pair, whose other presenting roles include Britain’s Got Talent and I’m a Celebrity..., are the latest stars to apologise for their past work, amid the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in America.
Last week comedian Leigh Francis apologised for his impersonations of black celebrities on his Channel 4 show Bo’ Selecta.
In a statement released last night Ant and Dec said: ‘During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the undercover segment of the show.
‘We realise that this was wrong and want to say that we are sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended. We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make these sketches today.
‘We had already taken steps to ensure footage was taken down, and have again recently confirmed with ITV that these segments, and any other historical content that could cause offence, does not appear on either the ITV Hub or the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel.’
The statement emerged as The League of Gentlemen and The
Mighty Boosh became the latest comedy programmes to be removed from Netflix amid concerns about the use of blackface characters.
On Tuesday it was revealed that the US streaming giant, along with BBC iPlayer and the BritBox streaming service, had taken down Little Britain from its service because of concerns over the issue.
But yesterday the BBC, unlike Netflix, said it would be keeping The League of Gentlemen and The Mighty Boosh on its service. As of last night BritBox was also still offering The League of Gentlemen.
Netflix, which along with Little Britain also removed another David Walliams and Matt Lucas comedy series, Come Fly with Me, on Friday, made the decision in an apparent reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests.
The League of Gentlemen features circus owner Papa Lazarou, who has a black and white face. Reece Shearsmith, the actor who played the part, has denied he was trying to portray a black man.
The Mighty Boosh, which starred The Great British Bake Off host Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, includes a character called The
Spirit of Jazz, whose face is also covered in dark make-up.
Netflix’s decision to drop the shows raised questions whether the BBC would do the same. But last night it said: ‘The change only affects Little Britain.’
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden last night questioned the BBC’s decision to pull Little Britain.
He told Peston on ITV: ‘I wouldn’t personally be inclined to do it, but that’s up to individual broadcasters. The BBC have editorial independence, and it wouldn’t have been my choice but that’s up to the BBC. I’m not going to secondguess them all the time.’
The US streaming service HBO Max has revealed that it has dropped the classic US civil war film Gone with the Wind from the service because of ‘racist depictions’. But it said the movie would return in the future with a ‘discussion of its historical context’.
‘We would not make them today’