Sarah Silverman Regrets Wearing ‘Most Racist Blackface’ in Comedy Central Sketch (Video)
“There’s a still of me on Twitter in blackface … it’s totally racist out of context and I regret that,” comedian says
Tony Maglio | October 30, 2015 @ 8:06 AM
Last Updated: October 30, 2015 @ 8:26 AM
Sarah Silverman has made a living pushing the envelope comedically for quite a long time — but there’s one gag that the actress wishes she could take back.
The Thursday “Watch What Happens Live” guest was asked by a caller what the most regrettable joke she ever delivered was.
“I had an episode on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’ that I love called ‘Face Wars’ where me and the waiter in the restaurant, played by Alex Désert, switch,” Silverman responded. “I say it’s harder to be Jewish and he says it’s harder to be black, and we switch for the day.”
“It’s really aggressively stupid and we’re both idiots,” she admitted to the caller and Bravo host Andy Cohen. “I’m in like the most racist blackface and he’s wearing paius and a yarmulke and a big fake Jewish nose and he’s wearing a t-shirt that says ‘I Love Money.'”
“It’s great, but there’s a still of me on twitter in blackface and it’s totally out of context and I tweeted it when Twitter was new and the people who followed me watched that show and it was from that show,” Silverman concluded. “Now it’s forever there and it looks … it’s totally racist out of context and I regret that.”
10 Stars Whose Blackface Blunders Backfired, From Ted Danson to Kylie Jenner (Photos)
Don't even think of mimicking these celebrities.
Joni Mitchell
The singer posed in blackface on the cover of her album "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" in 1977, and later went on to justify it by saying, "I have experienced being a black guy."
The "Cheers" star appeared at a N.Y. Friars Club Roast in 1993 with then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg wearing blackface makeup to perform an offensive N-word-filled comedy routine.
The Oscar-winning actor came under fire in 2012 when video surfaced of a 2004 school fundraiser featuring Hanks and another man wearing blackface and stereotypical African clothing. Hanks later condemned the bit as "horribly offensive."
The host of "America's Next Top Model" took heat, as did her show, for a photo shoot in 2009 in which competing models were made to look "biracial." Styling techniques included the darkening of contestants' skin.
Paula Deen
Following the epicure's ouster from the Food Network in the wake of her infamous N-word controversy, Deen posted a photo on Twitter from her show's 2011 Halloween episode featuring her son, Bobby, dressed as Ricky Ricardo, complete with brownface makeup.
Beyoncé
The diva took heat for a 2011 L'Officiel Paris cover with an "African Queen" theme for which the pop star's skin was darkened.
The singer/dancer/actress drew criticism over a 2013 Halloween costume for which she donned dark makeup to masquerade as Uzo Aduba's "Orange Is the New Black" character Crazy Eyes.
The YouTuber known for his outrageous characters in 2014 was forced to apologize for the use of blackface in some of his videos, including a parody of talk show host Wendy Williams.
Kylie Jenner
Fans of the reality star jumped all over a photo she posted to her Instagram account from a 2015 shoot, outraged that her skin appeared to be darkened. "This is a black light and neon lights people lets all calm down," Jenner responded.
Luann de Lesseps
The former countess and "Real Housewives of New York" star apologized for her 2017 Halloween costume as Diana Ross -- even though she insisted that she didn't actually do blackface. "I had bronzer on that I wear normally like the rest of my skin," she later told Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live." "So I didn’t add anything to or would ever, ever dream of doing a blackface. Ever."
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These celebrities offer a timely reminder that it’s never OK — so don’t try it
