These are the shows being edited or pulled from streaming due to racist depictions

Many of them feature obvious blackface

5 years ago | UPDATED 5 years ago

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The past 24 hours have seen several films and TV shows pulled from the likes of Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Britbox for portraying white actors in blackface.

This comes after protests have risen both globally and nationally in response to the death of George Floyd which has increased conversation around issues of racism.

Responses to certain shows being pulled has been mixed. People living in 2020 reckon it’s about time these shows were pulled. Those with the Union Jack in their bios took it as an affront to their beliefs, a big bold line striking through their love of offensive jokes.

To me little Britain was the worst. People will argue that oh they took hits at everybody but the focus on Black women was especially disturbing.

— machine gun Kele (@kelechnekoff) June 5, 2020

Little Britain isn’t the only show to have been pulled from streaming sites. Here are all the shows that have been pulled or edited due to blackface so far:

The scene from Friends where Ross asks a Puerto Rican technician to ‘look like him’

A New York TV network, Pix11, have reportedly cut a scene from Friends where Ross Geller tells a tanning technician he “wants to go as dark as him”. The scene takes place in series 10, under the episode titled: “The One with Ross’s Tan”.

In the scene, Ross is told there are three levels of tan that can be achieved in the tanning salon. Ross then tells the technician “Well, I like how you look, what are you?” to which the technician replies saying he is Puerto Rican.

The scene cut was noticed by fans after the show returned from a commercial break to Ross and the technician walking into the tanning room together. This means that the scene in which they stop outside to talk, and where Ross makes the comment, has been cut out.

You Tube videos of Ant and Dec dressed as Japanese street fans are being removed

Darren Grimes, Twitter Tory fan boy, noticed that ITV were making videos of Ant and Dec dressed as Japanese street fans private on YouTube.

The YouTube clip from the early 2000s, showed Saturday Night Takeaway hosts Ant and Dec, dressed as Japanese street fans in attempt to prank Coronation Street actors on set.

The pair named their characters Suki and Keiko. Both wore prosthetics and exaggerated their accents, in attempting to trick the Coronation Street cast into thinking they were in love with Todd Grimshaw.

Gone With The Wind

The 1939 film has been removed from HBO max after there were calls for it to be taken down.

Set in the American Civil War, Gone With the Wind has been consistently attacked for its depiction of slavery. HBO Max said the 1939 film was “a product of its time” and depicted “ethnic and racial prejudices” that “were wrong then and are wrong today”.

HBO Max also added that the film would return to the platform at an unspecified date with a “discussion of its historical context”.

Bo’ Selecta has been pulled from All 4 with immediate affect

Leigh Francis, aka Kieth Lemon, posted an apology video to Instagram regarding his decision to dress and act as famous black celebrities.

The celebrities in which Francis chose to impersonate included Michael Jackson, Craig David and Trisha Goddard. Francis’ captioned his Insta apology with: “Following recent events, I’ve done a lot of talking and learning and I would like to put this out there. I want to apologise to anyone that was offended by Bo’ Selecta. I’m on a constant journey of knowledge and just wanted to say I’m deeply sorry.”

Channel 4 have since pulled Bo’Selecta from their streaming service.

Little Britain

Little Britain has been removed from BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox as objections resurfaced to some of the sketch show’s characters, such as Walliams’s spa-goer Desiree Devere.

Many viewers of Little Britain have pointed out the blackface employed by actors Matt Lucas and David Walliams is unacceptable. Back in 2017, Lucas said in a statement: “If I could go back and do Little Britain again, I wouldn’t make those jokes about transvestites. I wouldn’t play black characters. Basically, I wouldn’t make that show now. It would upset people. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I’d do now.”

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review.

“Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.”

Come Fly With Me

Come Fly With Me, the mockumentary based around London Stansted Airport , has also been removed from BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox.

A spokesperson for BritBox, the streaming site that prioritises British boxsets, said: “Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BritBox. Come Fly With Me has not been available on the service for six months.”

In the series, both David Walliams and Matt Lucas used caricatural makeup and played exaggerated BIPOC characters such as Taaj, Moses Beacon and Omar Baba.

Netflix has pulled four Chris Lilley shows

Netflix has removed four of Chris Lilley’s comedy shows from its platform due to its racial depictions.

The four shows removed from the streaming site were: Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes and Jonah From Tonga.

Netflix did not provide a comment on the removal of Lilley’s shows, but confirmed to Variety that four shows starring Lilley have been removed permanently.

The BBC has revealed that Australian sitcom Summer Heights High won’t be removed from BBC iPlayer.

The Mighty Boosh has been pulled from Netflix

Netflix has removed Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt’s The Mighty Boosh from the platform due to blackface being used for the character Spirit Of Jazz.

The Spirit of Jazz character is portrayed by Noel Fielding and is supposed to be the ghost of fictional jazz musician Howlin’ Jimmy Jefferson.

According to The Guardian, Netflix found the show problematic as they were portrayed by white actors in blackface.

Netflix has pulled The League Of Gentlemen from the platform

As well as pulling The Mighty Boosh, Netflix also took down The League of Gentlemen, the comedy series following the lives of several characters in Royston Vasey.

The series is defined by IMDB as a “cult favourite”, and follows characters such as: “a transgender taxi driver, a family obsessed with hygiene and toads, a fiery reverend, a carnival owner who kidnaps women into marriage, and a xenophobic couple who run a local shop for local people.”

Comedian Jack Carroll tweeted: “League of Gentleman also taken off Netflix today. It’s an arbitrary gesture that means they don’t have to put any real work into combating actual instances of racial discrimination and comedy history is getting smashed in the process. Glad I kept hold of my DVD’s.”

UKTV has removed an episode of Fawlty Towers

UKTV has temporarily removed an episode of Fawlty Towers titled “The Germans” from a Gold Box Set.

In a statement released on Twitter UKTV said: “The episode contains racial slurs so we are taking the episode down while we review it.”

UKTV explain that they regularly take down “older content” to ensure that it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of “outdated language.” They added: “Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode.”