David Walliams and Matt Lucas say they “regret” performing in blackface for their shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me amidst worldwide black lives matter protests.
In identical statements posted to Twitter on Saturday evening, Lucas and Walliams described how they are “very sorry” for “playing characters of other races.”
The comedy duo say they “want to make it clear that it was wrong.”
Sketches for the once-popular TV show Little Britain included Walliams dressed up as black female character Desiree DeVere and Lucas as a Thai bride named Ting Tong.
2010 sketch show Come Fly With Me featured a range of characters working in an airport that saw Walliams and Lucas dressing up in blackface.
Matt & I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races. Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong & we are very sorry.
— David Walliams (@davidwalliams) June 13, 2020
Among the characters parodied by Lucas and Walliams included fictional airline owner Omar Baba, Pakistani airport worker Taaj and coffee server Precious Little from Jamaica.
Britain’s Got Talent judge Walliams and comedian Lucas have both spoken out in recent years about their decision to play characters with different ethnic backgrounds.
Lucas commented in 2017 that he “wouldn’t make that show now”, with Walliams saying he would “definitely do things differently.”
Meanwhile, a number of other white celebrities have also issued apologies for the use of blackface make-up in various sketch shows.
Among the actors and comedians include TV presenters Ant and Dec for their imitation of people of colour on their show Saturday Night Takeaway.
In a joint tweet on Wednesday 10 June they wrote: “During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the undercover segment of the show.
— antanddec (@antanddec) June 10, 2020
“We realise that this was wrong and want to say that we are sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended.”
Commenting on the decision to remove Little Britain from BBC iPlayer, a BBC Spokesperson said: "Times have changed since Little Britain first aired.
“There's a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review.”
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