Netflix Pulls ‘Community’ Episode ‘Advanced Dungeons & Dragons’ Due to Blackface Scenes (Exclusive)

Hulu also removed the Season 2 episode which features Ken Jeong’s character wearing black makeup while playing “D&D”

Community Advanced Dungeons and Dragons chang blackface
Sony Pictures Television

Netflix has pulled the “Community” Season 2 episode “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” which features Ken Jeong’s character, Ben Chang, wearing blackface during a game of “Dungeons & Dragons,” TheWrap has learned exclusively.

In this episode of the Dan Harmon-created series, the study group gets together to play a game of “D&D” with fellow Greendale student “Fat Neil” (played by Charley Koontz). Chang shows up to the game wearing a white wig, with black makeup covering all of his exposed skin. When Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) says, “So, we’re just going to ignore that hate crime, huh?” Chang responds, “I’m a dark elf or a drow.” Chang proceeds to play the game dressed that way, acting as the character “Brutalitops the Magician,” until he is killed and eliminated.

“Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” the 14th episode of Season 2 of “Community,” first aired Feb. 3, 2011 on NBC.

Hours after Netflix removed the episode from its platform, Hulu followed suit and took “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” down as well.

In a statement, Sony Pictures Television, the studio behind “Community,” said it “supports” Netflix and Hulu’s decisions to pull the episode.

Representatives for Harmon did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Netflix’s decision to remove this episode of “Community” from its service comes on the same morning TheWrap exclusively reported “The Office” creator Greg Daniels and NBCUniversal’s decision to re-edit a Season 9 Christmas episode of the comedy that includes a character in blackface.

Earlier this week, two other sitcoms, “Scrubs” and “30 Rock,” pulled multiple episodes each that featured characters in blackface. Both were done at the request of the show’s creators.

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