Ant and Dec Apologise for Impersonating Ethnic Minorities
Episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway removed from the archive
Ant and Dec are the latest light entertainment figures to issue an apology for comedy routines which involved them using make up to impersonate people from ethnic minorities.
Chiswick-based Declan Donnelly and his former neighbour Ant McPartlin assumed the identity of elderly Jamaican women wearing dark make up and prosthetics for a stunt on Saturday Night Takeaway in 2003. The following year they dressed up as Japanese girls, Suki and Keiko and adopted fake accents.
ITV has now removed the two shows from its catch up service.
In a statement the pair 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 we offended."
"We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make these sketches today."
The duo won their 19th consecutive award at the National Television Awards.
The apology and removal of the shows is the latest in a string of reassessment of British comedy performances from the recent past in the light of the Black Lives Matter campaign intensifying after the killing of George Floyd in the US.
Episodes of Little Britain broadcast between 2003 and 2008 in which David Walliams and Matt Lucas blacked up have also been removed and both performers have agreed with the BBC’s decision.
— antanddec (@antanddec) June 10, 2020
Leigh Francis has issued an apology for a black character he created for the Bo Selecta series.
In an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he disagreed with the removal of Little Britain but that the decision was for the BBC.
June 11, 2020