EN THE DEEP END
Harry Enfield uses racial slur while trying to defend blackface in comedy
HARRY Enfield sparked fury today by using a racial slur while defending the use of blackface in comedy.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the comedian used the slur "c**n" when quoting the name of a 1930s comedy by GH Elliott and Al Jolson.
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Today presenter Nick Robinson issued an apology after Enfield, 59, used the racist term.
It comes after a wave of Black Lives Matter protests around the world following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in the US after a police officer knelt on his neck, prompting greater scrutiny over the use of blackface in the media.
Enfield added that he has used blackface by darkening his skin to impersonate a person of colour "several times in the past".
He admitted he once impersonated South African President Nelson Mandela as a drug dealer.
'NO REGRETS'
Enfield said: "I have played Nelson Mandela in one thing for laughs and I did it because this thing had come round from the BBC that we couldn't do it any more.
"So I thought well who is my hero - Nelson Mandela, who I had the pleasure of meeting once."
The comedian added that he then considered what the stereotype was for black people.
"Well at the time there was a lot of things in the papers about drugs and stuff, so I made him a drug dealer or a pusher of alcopops to children and things like that, which I thought was so wrong that it was alright and, you know, I wouldn't do it now but I don't regret it," he said.
Enfield added that he feels "there should still be a conversation about it, really".
"I have played Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, David Cameron - four prime ministers," he said.
If Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, I would find it difficult that I would not be allowed to play him because of the colour of his skin
Harry Enfield
"Say if Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, I would find it difficult that I would not be allowed to play him because of the colour of his skin."
He was criticised by fellow comedian Ava Vidal during the radio discussion.
She said: "I'm sure you can take the mickey out of the Prime Minister without blacking up."
She added that the use of blackface is "punching down and picking on oppressed people".
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The comedian's comments came after TV presenters Ant and Dec apologised on Wednesday for using blackface during a segment on Saturday Night Takeaway.
Comedy series Little Britain has also been removed from BBC iPlayer after coming under fire over the use of blackface in some of its sketches.
And Channel 4 has removed Bo' Selecta! episodes from its website after the show was caught up in the storm over TV blackface characters.
Leigh Francis, who plays TV host Keith Lemon, wore masks to play stars in the show and was this week forced into a tearful apology by black talk show host Trisha Goddard who he lampooned on the programm
Netflix has also announced that The Mighty Boosh and League Of Gentleman have been pulled from the service over their use of blackface.
This week, protesters have demanded 78 statues and street names across the UK taken down because of their racist associations.
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A map showing all of the "racist" statues in Britain include memorials of Captain Cook and Wetherspoons pubs named after slave owners has been put up on a website called Topple the Racists.
It follows the tearing down of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol sparked a furious debate over which people get honoured with memorials in Britain.
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And a statue in London of 18th century slave trader Robert Milligan was taken down on Tuesday, June 9.
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Leigh Francis tearfully apologises for playing black people in Bo Selecta