Australian TV host Daryl Somers apologised on air after a controversial act on last night's Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion special in which singers painted their faces black to mimic The Jackson Five.
Special guest Harry Connick Jr led criticism of the Red Faces segment, looking uncomfortable during the performance of the Jackson Jive then giving the troupe a score of zero.
The visiting US crooner - who was raised in New Orleans and learned to play music alongside African-American jazz musicians - said the act would not have gone down well in the US.
Later, following Somers' apology, the singer said he needed to "speak up as an American". "If I knew that was going to be part of the show I definitely wouldn't have done it," he added.
But the stars of the controversial act later said they had flagged potential issues with the performance with producers before the show. Dr Anand Deva, who played Michael Jackson in the skit, said the act was meant to be a tribute to Michael Jackson.
"It certainly was not meant to be racist in any way at all,'' Dr Deva said. "I suspect things are probably a bit different in America in terms of what that (black face) means,'' he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment