Harry Connick Jr. Clashes with Blackface Jackson Family on Aussie TV
Apparently enough time had elapsed since Michael Jackson's death that a cheeky comic tribute to him and the Jackson 5 seemed in good taste. At least it seemed that way a troupe of Aussie TV performers, who rounded out last night's performance as the "Jackson Jive" in full-on blackface. The crowd ate it up, but an American judge who knew better ground the show to a halt until somebody apologized. Video after the jump.
It wasn't supposed to be like this for Harry Connick Jr. or the iconic Aussie variety series Hey Hey It's Saturday, for whom the midweek show represented a much-anticipated reunion special. But there they were: The Jackson Jive, all Afro wigs and black face paint, led by their late superstar brother, Michael, done up with a pasty clown visage and aviator sunglasses. Not cool, said Connick: "If they turned up looking like that in the United States, it'd be like Hey Hey There's No More Show," the crooner spat, giving the group a score of zero in the episode's mock-talent competition. (The Aussie judge beside him was much more forgiving, allowing for a smile and a 7.)
The host brought Connick -- who'd appeared on the show before -- back out after the break for an official mea culpa: "I know that to your countrymen, that's an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologize." Connick thanked him, adding, "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." As if this weren't the year two-thousand-and-freaking-nine. "If I knew that was going to be part of the show, I probably - I definitely - wouldn't have done it."
Our Aussie moles tipped us to the full video below, but feel free to skip ahead to 2:15 if cringeworthy ethnic tone-deafness is NSFW, or if you just want Connick's priceless reaction, or both.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
Australians might not be great at taking criticism, but Americans are just as bad, if not worse.
People pretend that America is one of the most racist countries in the world, but, I hate to tell you, that's far from the truth. If you look at Europe, countries such as France and Italy have had "minorities" living in their countries for generations...over a hundred years. NEVER would an Italian consider someone from Moroccan descent an Italian and NEVER would a frenchman consider anyone from their former colonies French. Nobody in Europe would consider these people, no matter how many generations they've been there, to be truly European, and don't even get me started on Eastern Europe. That's why the holocost was so easy there, even though the jews had been in Europe for hundreds and hundreds of years, they weren't considered European (obviously, the same is still happening with the "gypsies").
America may have issues, but, if you live in America, you're American.
to be fair, black people in America weren't given the vote until the mid 1960's.
it was a bad time for the world.
Everyone knows that white Australians aren't racist. That's why they treated the Aboriginals so well, and still do to this day. (Yeah, right, you frekin Aussies have no call to talk about American racism or what we have done in the past or what we are trying to do to overcome it now. Clean out your own nose first.)
God, that was so racist.
I am glad Harry Connick Jr. spoke up in reference to African Americans but to all the people defending this who happen to be Austrailian, whose to say that SOME Kooris/Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and African immigrant in Austrailia were not at least slightly offended by this!No Austrailia did not have African slavery but it had Aboriginal Koori near Extermination/Stolen-Gen/Boarding school experiences, Blackbirding, and if the immigrants(of all colors) get shafted there like they do everywhere else, the mistreatment of these African immigrants! Which means not having the blood of African slaves on your hand a somewhat of a copout.Austrailians rightly get offended when North Americans do things to offend them. Chalk this up to Austrailia being wrong on this!
For those who do not know, the history of "blackface" in the USA is because for years blacks were not allowed to perform on stage or in cinema, so the characters were portrayed by white people wearing black makeup. (Very similar to the way women were banned from participating in theater for years with the female characters being played by men dressed as women.) What was even worse is that the whites playing the blacks were made-up based on white people's stereotypes of blacks. I have no idea why Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr did what they did in Tropic Thunder, but I personally did not like the movie for a number of reasons. However, whatever Stiller and Downey did does not make what these Aussie guys did any less inflammatory. It's that what our moms taught us from a young age, "two wrongs do not make a right". Now when you start saying "well that's the USA but this is Australia" let me ask you, how many Aboriginals are here on this board posting how they feel about seeing people dressed up wearing black paint on their faces?
Yes we Americans have our faults but before you start calling us nutters, and Imperialists, or whatever, why don't you Aussies take a good, hard look at racial discrimination in Australia? Even though you didn't treat the Indigenous people as slaves per se, can you honestly say you treat them equally to whites? And by the way, you also benefit from cheaper gas at the pump from our efforts in the middle east. I never voted for Bush and I hate that we are involved in wars, but you cannot disagree that we are the world's piggy bank, whether you like it or not and without us being over there keeping the Gulf defended, you would be paying 20 dollars a gallon for gas.
I want you to know something, "Customs".
You and everything you stand for are a relic of a bygone era. Soon the whole world will have moved on from your brand of pathological poison forever. Your children will embrace the promise of progress and tolerance, and your antiquated world-view will be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs. Not long after that, you will be forgotten. Forever.
This is a battle you cannot and will not win. We came down from the trees. We invented the wheel. And we will soon be rid of the likes of you. You are a relic. A vestigial tail. Nothing more.
You know all this of course, and so do the others like you, which is why you are spamming the internet with your hubris and hatred. Your ignorance and your moral illiteracy are being called to account more and more each day, and you are responding in the only way you know how; by lashing out. You are on the defensive. You operate only on fear and desperation. You surround yourself with others who think like you do, convincing yourselves that you are not irrelevant.
But you are irrelevant, and the only contribution you have left to offer is as an example of how things once were, and how far we have come.
Welcome to the death of the dinosaurs.
I am glad Harry Connick Jr. spoke up in reference to African Americans being one myself but to all the people defending this who happen to be Austrailian, whose to say that SOME Kooris/Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and African immigrant in Austrailia were not at least slightly offended by this!No Austrailia did not have African slavery but it had Aboriginal Koori near Extermination/Stolen-Gen/Boarding school experiences, Blackbirding, and if the immigrants(of all colors) get shafted there like they do everywhere else, the mistreatment of those African immigrants and others that are there! Which means not having the blood of African slaves on your hand is somewhat of a copout.None of this is to say that the US is any better since the U.S. hasn't had the best experience with race relations either.It is not said by me to bash Austrailia as the worst and only racist place in the world when there are many places like this.I do think that Austrailians are lying when they say that the atrocities that went on there were not serious and that black Australians-(native/immigrant)then and now are treated so well!Austrailians rightly get offended when North Americans do things to offend them. Chalk this up to Austrailia being wrong in "this" incident!BTW, I am not sure they meant to be offensive but this is something the producers and performers should have thought about and the fact that they did not mean to be offense and didn't consider the potential controversy is kinda sad!
BTW, as an African American in particular and American in general, I do not like when the U.S. is condescending towards Austrailia but the criticism on this issue makes a valid point! About Robert Downey Jr. though, he was criticized for blackface and other actors have been criticized for doing the same thing. Maybe not always in American mainstream presses but other alternative/ethnic ones for sure. If not Downey other people have been! About Harry Connick Jr. preachers skit I did not know about it until now-admittedly "I WAS NOT impressed" but I was not as offended as the out and out blackface/Afro setup.He could easily pass for some overthetop white televangelist preachers to be honest. The fact that some of these performers were Asian does not soften the blow-especially when Indian and Lebanese folks have not been strangers to colorface mockery too or possibly in the case of Lebanese, the genie character with the turban.They should have thought this over regardless of what the producers said if they had misgivings just like the producers. My thing though is time should have passed for blackface to be seen as quality entertainment-as"good clean fun!This goes for brown,yellow,and red face too this stuff should stay in the past where it came from THROUGHOUT THE WORLD!Whiteface is not right either, but since whites do not have the history of persecution by other groups that have been the target of oppression(who have had to suffer stereotypes design specifically to dehumanize them as oppose to just lampoon and demean them) the impact of whiteface is not as detrimental as the other types of colorface. Still, anybody of ANY COLOR-White,Asian,Black,Latino,or Native American- guilty of this ANYWHERE to ANY-BODY should have rotten tomatoes/mud pies thrown at 'em or be shot(jokingly) on sight!
well, that's not really true.
The Japanese held Chinese and Vietnamese people as slaves for centuries.
The Russians kept their own citizens as slaves for centuries.
Middle Eastern nations kept everyone slaves for centuries
The chief slave traders were the English
English run colonies in the Caribean all employed slaves
The list really goes on for ever.
I'm sure the Australians would have had slaves, but they had missed the boat on that one since nobody had found a use for Australia by then except as a place to abandon prisoners, who probably didn't have enough money on their own to buy a slave.
I am black British and having read the thread here, I simply must comment. Aussies - wake the fuck up!!! This was not just offensive to Americans, any black person in the western world (indeed, black people globally) would have been totally offended by it. You would NEVER see anything like this on British TV today! A white audience in England would have booed this off the stage in 10 seconds flat and the producer would have been sacked instantly. It was simply disgusting and yes, IT WAS RACISM - in the crudest form. I was stunned to see something like this on air in a so-called developed country in 2009 and really, it does not speak well for your country. I am deeply, deeply offended by it and to those people defending it, you should be ashamed. I am just glad that I am not black in Australia. Thank God I am not black in Australia.
The Spaniards started the "American" slave trade when they began shipping Africans to the Caribbean colonies.
"The American public were so outraged over Robert Downey's recent blackface routine he was given an Academy award nomination. Fair dinkum the hypocrisy is pathetic!"
I am sorry...but if you can not see the difference between these two things you are an idiot. It's like comparing apples to oranges.
Obviously, to the Australian people who did not find this act offensive, you have never been denied basic opportunity of anything because of the color of your skin... Understandably, if you are not African American you cannot feel the ire of continually over hundreds of years, being not only ridiculed and considered less than because of skin color, but also being consistently mocked and teased as something closer to an animal than our fellow human being brethren. This occurrence was just another example of bad taste in the social atmosphere of today's world. I've noticed many Australians commenting this was not offensive to them; I suppose that makes perfect sense because they have never suffered the humiliation and degradation of being considered a "second class" citizen. My question to the some of the Australians who don't think this incident was offensive or questionable at the least, is, how do you think the Aboriginal people of your country felt when they were considered by some of your countrymen to be "second class" citizens or directly related to animals, maybe one to two hundred or less years ago? I believe Mr. Connick, Jr. acted appropriately since he was not aware of the content of the act, and considering where and how he grew up in the United States. I believe his anguish and outrage were not fawned or faux and he conducted himself as a gentleman considering the anger he more than likely felt within himself. Yes, for those who may wonder, I am an African American man and I do not consider the "act" portrayed in good light whatsoever... If the young men wanted to mock the "Jacksons/Jackson 5/Jackson Family", they could have done so without using the disturbing addition of "blackface" which is an ultimate insult to all African Americans who understand what it truly meant from slavery time throughout present time. You must understand, there are numerous amounts, up to and beyond millions I'm sure, of racists who endorse and envelope this type of humiliation, and speak and act on those beliefs every day of their lives... The racists point does not limit itself to African Americans, there are many types of people who have and continue to suffer through racial animosity in this the 21st century, so I hope you will not take it so lightly in the present to the future, to think your fellow human brothers and sisters do not deserve the same type of respect you incur simply because of their skin color... The way you speak of this incident makes me think that if you were a friend of a person of color and someone teased and made rude remarks or actions regarding their ethnicity, you would not attempt to aide them by denouncing an inappropriate action. Kudos to Mr. Connick, Jr. for standing up for his personal belief.
To Jack O'Leary:
As an Australian I can say you're right, we did do some terrible things to our native people, but certainly not on the sacle the America did. However, we learnt from our mistakes, but it would seem in America you weren't happy with trying to wipe out your native people and stealing their land, oh no, you didn't learn from that did you? You then decided to go across the atlantic and steel more people from another country! So don't tell me or anyone else about double standards! America always has been and still is the most racist country on earth even if it's only a small minority of the population! Just because you now have a black president, which is about time, it doesn't mean you can all get on your high horses and start calling everyone else racist just because you can now hide behind a black president!
I have a comment for Justin...maybe you should wake up. You poms are cowards as you forced the Australian and New Zealand troops to get slaughtered in Gallipoli.....so hey....you aren't exactly a bed of roses yourselves! The boys are mostly black themselves and it was JUST A TRIBUTE!!!!! Duh!!!!
Sigh. This has been blown up way out of proportion. As an American who has lived in Australia and is married to an Australian, I am embarrassed and a little puzzled by all the "outrage."
Australia's treatment of the Indiginous population is no different than what we did to the Native Americans. Yet we still have "The Redskins" baseball team.
The stolen generation is also a shameful chapter in Australia's history. But Kevin Rudd issued a national apology. We still have not offered an official apology for slavery.
Neither country is perfect or better than the other. What is annoying me is how all the Americans are suddenly getting on their high horse as if we are somehow more evolved.
Turn it onto fox news. Go to a Teabagger protest where Obama is being depicted as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose. Listen to Glenn Beck.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Worry about yourself before you start attacking others. That's all I have to say.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States
Enough said!
The Uni-Students who performed the comedy sketch are in fact immigrants from other countries including India and Lebanon, but don't let that stop you being racist towards all Australians.
I saw the sketch live, and I didn't have no problem with it - let me explain why... I live in a country that never traded in black slaves and was watching a nostalgic reunion show. I recognize that the performers were not pretending to be blacks, they were doing a parody of the Jackson5, who just happen to be black - and thats a big difference in my books.
It seems like being outraged is the new black (fashion colour - not skin tone)
Knowing that NONE of us have a monopoly on being disadvantaged, the next person who dares dress as Santa Claus (incl. the white mans beard) is gonna cop a law suit !
And I'm an Irish-Australian...so im going to sue EVERYONE who has EVER told an Irish joke !
And a tip to women - start suing ALL those drag performers ! How dare they insult your womanhood.
Just to let you all no Harry Connick DIDN'T stop the show he mentioned the skit during an ad break. Not during the show as reported. He was allowed to come back maybe half hour later to voice his disapproval.
I have visited your country on 7 occasions and I really didn't think you were so quick to judge other people when you have so much trouble in your country.Let's forget we all fight along side each other in Iraq Afghanistan, our fire fighter come over and help you guys out. But if we are all so bad let's stop all of this.You look after yours and we will look after ours
As an Australian I didn't find the act racist or funny. It was just stupid. I had never heard of blackface until reading the about the "outrage" in america. The act was not making fun of black people at all. It was the Jackson 5. I don't know how else a group of mixed race non black people could imitate the jackson 5 without making themselves black?
A quick look at american news websites shows that this seems to be a bigger issue in america. Some of your headlines include.
"Kansas Mayor Apologizes for Appearing in Blackface Drag"
"Minnesota College Investigating Party Involving KKK Costume, Blackface"
"Washington College Cancels Class for Diversity Seminar After 'Blackface' Party"
"Teacher Resigns After Appearing in Blackface"
Blackface is simply not known in Australia so there was no racism intended at all. Blackface is in American taboo that you are applying to other cultures where it does not exist.
Considering the uproar this has created it appears that you Americans need to educate your people as the headlines above clearly show that this behaviour is alive and well in America where dressing in blackface is a well known taboo.
Fair enough that the "Jackson Jive" didn't intend to offend anyone. Fair enough that blackface isn't a big deal in Australia. But what I find disgusting above all else is the backlash against Harry Connick Jr. If you idiots did your research on blackface (btw, you can take care of that right here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface) you'd realize, that from the perspective of a man who grew up in the Southern United States, where racism has and still is prevalent to this day, where not only did he study the history of racism against blacks, but he also witnessed it happening to his black friends and black people in general, seeing someone perform in blackface is not only deeply offensive, but just downright indefensible as well. So you cannot blame him for his reaction anymore than we can blame the performers for their complete ignorance on the stigma that lies behind blackface. And if Harry had laughed along with the audience about it, then Americans would've excoriated him for not speaking out against it. Either way, he'd be bound to lose some fans. But at least he was man enough to not hide his true feelings about it. And he did not label the performers racist, he said the act was racist. He knows not all white Australians are racist, just the same way not all white Americans are racist. He did not overreact. If this is not the type of reaction you wanted, then you should've known better than to invite an American to judge people performing in blackface. That's about as smart as inviting a Jew to judge performers wearing Swastikas and sporting Hitler-style moustaches. It's not as if Harry looked for clips of Hey Hey, It's Saturday on YouTube and saw the act, and then proceeded to hold a press conference about it. He was invited to the show, saw something he didn't expect to see, it understandably offended his sensibilities and he voiced his opinion about it. That's all. If, say, Will Smith or Denzel Washington were in Harry Connick's place and reacted the same way, would there be such a backlash against them? If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive and saw this, and spoke out on how incredibly offensive it was, would the Aussies dare to call him an overly sensitive fool? I think not. Just because something's socially acceptable in your culture doesn't mean it is everywhere else. Nobody's asking you to get rid of blackface permanently, just next time use better judgment as to who you're gonna have on your show and what exactly will they be providing as "entertainment" should you wanna have an American guest judge. That's called being considerate. This whole thing would've been a non-issue if you hadn't invited Harry Connick Jr. on THAT particular episode.
Angry Aussie, I think everyone who ever served their country at war (except maybe Vietnam) would disagree. Nobody forced us to go to Gallipoli. Yes, we were called upon by the British Empire to enter WW1, but as Menzies said "Britain is at war therefore we are at war". Let's face it, Australia was still young enough then that we couldnt do much on our own. As (I think) PM Hughes said, "Without the Empire we should be tossed like a cork in the cross current of world politics. It is at once our sword and our shield."
To Angry Aussie: You really don't get it do you? Who are you to decide that black people should not be offended by this? What makes you think any member of the Jackson family would have appreciated such a disgusting "TRIBUTE"? I guess one man's tribute is another man's racist insult. If you bothered to educate yourself about the subject on which you speak so definitively (i.e. check out the history of blackface and this kind of gollywog humour) you would understand why black people find it so deeply offensive. But no, that would be too much effort for you to make..you simply take the lazy, ignorant way out and have decided for us that it is not offensive, whether we (black people) agree or not...yeah, right.
What the hell has Gallipoli got to do with this? This is a debate about what is right and wrong in the year 2009 and, whatever their history, the British today instinctively understand that blackface is gutter humour that is perceived as racist and deeply offensive by the people being depicted. I repeat, a WHITE audience in England today would boo this off-stage in 10 seconds flat. That is the difference, the British have learned something...you (personally) still think you should be able to tell me (a black man) what I should or shouldn't find racist. You sir, are an idiot.
Next » « Previous