South Korean TV Show Causes Outrage for Featuring Racist Character in Blackface

April 20, 2017

South Korean television network SBS has come under fire after airing a racist comedy sketch featuring a character in blackface on the show “Laughing Legend Match”.

In a comedy skit, a character named Hyunhee talks to her family about her dreams of becoming a comedian despite her father’s disapproval, according to Koreaboo.

When she comes to see him, Hyunhee appears in blackface, wearing dreadlocks and what are supposed to be African tribal clothes.

The final scene of the show has the character dancing to the song “Circle of Life” from Disney’s “The Lion King”.

Check out the insensitive skit below:

In response, viewers took to social media to express their anger, with many calling the skit racist and how it’s offensive to people of color.

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SBS has yet to make an official statement or issue an apology, but this is unfortunately not the first time that the country has portrayed blackface.

Billboard reported back in March that during a Mamamoo concert in Seoul, the Korean girl group released a video parodying Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” while in blackface and donning similar outfits that were featured in the music video.

The group did issue an apology, but not before receiving major backlash from netizens for their actions.

“We were extremely ignorant of blackface and did not understand the implications of our actions,” Mamamoo wrote. “We will be taking time to understand more about our international fans to ensure this never happens again. We hope that you will help to educate us on these and other issues so that we can become better people and better artists.”

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