Hey Hey: Global reactions
Updated: International media speaks up on the Red Faces sketch. Daryl Somers apologises again while Harry Connick Jr. issues a statement.
- Published by David Knox
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Following last night’s ‘Blackface’ sketch on Hey Hey the Reunion, it is triggering reactions from international media.
Meanwhile the Herald Sun reports the skit was approved by producers despite some questioning prior to the show.
“All six of us discussed this at length whether or not we should put this on because we realised it may be controversial,” said Dr Anand Deva, who played Michael Jackson.
“We did go to the trouble of checking with the production staff and they seemed to OK it.”
Dr Deva said he and his friends came from ethnic backgrounds and were all too aware of racism.
“Two of us come from India and one of us comes from Lebanon so we can’t afford to be racist to be honest,” he said.
“If we did offend him (Connick Jr) we truly didn’t mean to.
A selection of international responses follows.
NYMag:
Well, this is pretty awful. On yesterday’s reunion special for long-running Australian variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday, a group of singers calling themselves the “Jackson Jive” performed a galling version of the Jackson 5’s “Can You Feel It” in blackface makeup, to predictable boos from the studio audience. Guest American judge Harry Connick Jr. took issue, thankfully, giving the Jive a “0” and telling the tone-deaf host, “If they turned up like that in the United States, it’d be like Hey Hey There’s No More Show.”
MovieLine:
Apparently enough time had elapsed since Michael Jackson’s death that a cheeky comic tribute to him and the Jackson 5 seemed in good taste. At least it seemed that way a troupe of Aussie TV performers, who rounded out last night’s performance as the “Jackson Jive” in full-on blackface. The crowd ate it up, but an American judge who knew better ground the show to a halt until somebody apologized.
Defamer:
But what did the crowd do when they stopped the music. They booed! Harry Connick Jr, one of the guest judges gave the team a zero score and the judge who gonged gave them a one, even though the crowd was roaring to give them a 10! One female judge gave them a 7 out of 10 because she is apparently ignorant or, beause she’s a sweet female sitting between two men judging a singing competition she thought she was Paula Abdul and took a handful of pill before the broadcast, so she didn’t know better. The amazing thing is that, as the show tells us, in 1989, the same group doing a very similar act won the competition! So, in 20 years, we’ve gone from this offensive form of comedy being wildly popular to being still popular with the masses, even though some people know better. In America, blackface is one of those things that you can only show if you’re talking about how awful it is because, well, it is pretty awful. Sure, there are culture differences, but it’s not like they don’t have black folks in Australia who would get pissed off by this.
Guardian (UK):
Seemingly oblivious to the point being made, the host cheerily points out that this is a comeback of sorts – the Jackson Jive in fact performed this act on the show twenty years ago. You know, in the olden times of 1989, when blacking up was totally acceptable. Anyway… If you take a look at the mind-boggling video clip, you will note that we rejoin the show after the break, during which the host seems to have had a somewhat unconvincing epiphany.
Newsweek:
Asked to appear on the Australian variety hour Hey Hey It’s Saturday as a guest judge, Harry Connick Jr. sputters in disbelief when a Jackson 5 impersonation group entirely in blackface appears onstage. He first gives the group a 0 scorecard for the performance while the audience boos; later, at about 4:40 into the clip, Connick launches into an impassioned race-relations lecture explaining why blackface is a bad thing. “If I knew that was going to be a part of the show, I definitely wouldn’t have done it,” Connick declares on live TV. The host appears genuinely surprised.
ChicagoNow:
Shame on the host and the other judges for trying to act like this performance was acceptable in any part of the world. I seriously had to look at the calendar to see if I had somehow gone on a really bad time travel a la HG Wells. Anyone considering coming forth with the Wayans-White-Chicks-defense, don’t even bother. There is no history of “whiteface” that comes anywhere close to the embarrassment that blacks suffered during this period in Hollywood.
Examiner:
Harry Connick, Jr. was both shocked and amazed at an act that was impersonating Michael Jackson and his brothers, as he acted as guest judge on the show, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, an Australian show. Connick gave the group a “0” score for the performance, as the audience booed; later, Connick gave a race-related speech explaining why black-face is a bad thing. “If I knew that was going to be a part of the show, I definitely wouldn’t have done it.’
The Daily Swarm:
Understandably, Connick was less than amused, giving them a zero out of ten and noting that the show would be yanked from the air in America. Really, we’d like to think it wouldn’t have made the air in 1989 either.
It was also reported on the BBC, The Times, The Mirror and The Sun in the UK.
UPDATED: Meanwhile a Nine spokesman issued a brief apology this afternoon. “It was never intended to offend and we regret any offence the Red Faces act caused,” he said.
Daryl Somers told Sky News: “If there were any Australians who were offended … on behalf of the show I apologise.
“To most Australians I think it’s a storm in a teacup.”
Somers said he did not want to diminish the incident but said he believed it had been blown out of proportion.
“I think it was a light act … they were going to be gonged off,” he said.
Meanwhile Harry Connick Jr. has issued a statement to the Daily Telegraph which in part says:
“I have watched the media storm that has erupted over my reaction to the Hey Hey blackface skit.
“Where I come from, blackface is a very specific and very derogatory thing. Perhaps this is different in other parts of the world, but in the American culture, the blackface image is steeped in a negative history and considered offensive.
“I urge everyone in the media to take a look at the history of blackface to fully understand why it is considered offensive.”
You can read the rest here.
Source: Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun
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- Tagged with Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Hey Hey the Reunion, Sky News
126 Responses
the words that come to mind when I think of the so-called “Jackson Jive” is Jack Ass.
I don’t think they were trying to be offensive so much as they were being insensitive. Then again, Australia is different than the US.
@ Guy… I’d say you’ve misinterpreted what d.no said. Also, why do people insist on labelling random things as publicity stunts?
Harry the hypocrit. Harry playing a black priest!
This is a joke. Think about it its a publicity stunt surely. I mean they chose for them out of hundreds of auditions to appear and they decided to go with them. The fact is they could have chose some other act and they went with this one. Surely they knew it was going to cause outrage. This is a classic case of going too far.
Like d.no stated if The Chaser can pull the stunts they pulled but its “just a storm in a tea cup” i am sorry but whats the difference here. Looking at it its a joke they can get away with it. I still think its a publicity stunt. I really hope Nine dont grant them a new series. But isnt Nine also partially to blame here. They would have known. I cant believe the comments i have read saying get over it. Its harmless. Well i dont know about that. Its made world wide news.
So because it has been done before, it’s ok?
Funny how The Chaser Boys got in big trouble by the public and media for their skit for The Make A Realistic Wish Foundation but apparently this skit is ok and it’s all just a storm in a tea cup.
I think there are very obvious racial problems in Australia. But alas this is a tv website, so I won’t go there.
By the end of the week, this will all be forgotten.
I bet the people who are defending this are the same ones that got riled up about the Make a Realistic Wish Foundation.
Ironic.
oh get over it world. i am offended by 90% of the movies that come out of the USA, offended by poor directors and poor actors, should i boo at you and make a statement.?
@Steve Zannuck:
That’s because Mad Men is fiction, set in the ’60s. Hey Hey It’s Saturday is not. Do you really think it’s racist to depict racism accurately in the eras in which it occurred? Because there are innumerable fictionalised accounts of the civil rights movement, the Holocaust and so on and so forth which would fall under the same category. Are they racist too?
It’s also worth noting that Mad Men is an absolutely brilliant TV show and, well, the less said about HHIS the better.
This whole thing is utter nonsense. It was never meant to be racist, and they did this same thing before, so why would they think that they couldn’t do it again.. Talk about political corectness gone mad.. This is the same as that whole blackboard stuff that goes on in the UK.. It’s not allowed to be called a blackboard anymore, because that’s racially insensitive.. It’s a chalkboard now. People expect everyone to walk on egg shells.. Bring back hey hey!
As I said on the other blog on this topic, there is nothing inherently racist about wearing back face paint and miming the words to a song. As such, those people who are offended by this act have only themselves to blame, because they are the ones who read that racism into what was, when viewed objectively, a completely innocent (if arguably lame) act.
Why is Hey Hey damned as racist when Season 2 of the Emmy Award winning series Mad Men features exactly the same thing – and gets praised?
In Episode One, John Slattery dons “black-face” and sings “My Old Kentucky Home”. When the show was broadcast, there were no outcries in the US – no howls of racism.
We did not have Jim Crow laws in Australia and we do not have the same sensibilities as Americans. So why do we constantly let their culture dominate ours?
Australia is fast becoming like the PC Concentration Camp in South Park whose motto was “We tolerate everything but tolerance.”
Why should Connick – who is a pleasant singer – a mediocre actor – and an American – becoming the arbiter of taste in Australia? This is cultural cringe at its worst.
“I urge everyone in the media to take a look at the history of blackface to fully understand why it is considered offensive.”
That is quite an American-centric thing though. If there’s a cultural disparity at play, why does this matter to them?
American’s slander the hell out of Sharia law in Muslim countries, things that Muslims find deeply insulting and against the law, American’s laugh about. So what is the difference? Local cultural differences make this whole thing what Daryl says… A storm in a teacup. It would be different if a bunch of idiots came out singing racist hatred songs and wrapping themselves in the aussie flag.
I’d never heard of the term “blackface” until this whole crap blew up.
Someone else finds it offensive, fair enough, apologies given.. just don’t make out the whole country to be racist pigs. They might be guilty of cultural insensitivities, but which culture isnt!!
I didn’t see the whole show, but I watched the clip of the skit. It’s in poor taste, like the commercial portraying stereotypically gay characters in it (has anybody seen latest Specsavers add)? To some people it might be funny, but not everybody is laughing at it. It is like inviting a Thai Premier to a King and I show. Channel 9 should first check if the skit might offend their international guest. If making fun of people from another country at least check that your guests you’ve invited are not offended by it.
Porky Domesticus, that is crap! Just because the Africans that live here weren’t subject to that racism in America, does not make it acceptable
“Where I come from, blackface is a very specific and very derogatory thing. Perhaps this is different in other parts of the world, but in the American culture, the blackface image is steeped in a negative history and considered offensive.”
And theres the rub – this isnt where he comes from, we have no Klan, no step n fetchits, no segregation, no burning crosses, no assassinated Kings. All this kerfuffle could have been avoided if he’d realized this isn’t The South a few hours earlier! Now if these had been aborigines, or even southern Europeans or Asians, that would be different as there is a history in Aust of racism against those groups, but to Negroes we’ve done bugger all. Harry seems to be yet another superstar who thinks talent equals intellect – it does not sir, unless you are speaking of music or fame your views are irrelevant.
Hey Tim, well Channel 7 have shown Are You Being Served and The Benny Hill Show in recent years so you never know – Love Thy Neighbour and On the Buses could be back before you know it!
Whats he doin here anyway trying to flog off a cover album have a go mate try writing your own stuff It just blows me out why our tv shows get this affixation with b grade yanks Sure it was a bad judgement from producers cause the act sucked He said his peice after the act, instead of wasting his time with apologies he could use his time better to maybe write of his own songs
A stunt for publicity by the producers. Disgraceful.
We work in the business of sending messages to our audiences,
and as producers it’s our responsibility to ensure our message
is not misinterpreted.
Some may think this sketch is harmless fun,
but it also sent the message: “look at the funny black man”
which is an antiquated attitude known to be one of the foundations of racist thought.
The producers are to blame here.
They’re irresponsible in allowing this sort of performance to be broadcast.
There’s no television producer working anywhere network television
in Australia who wouldn’t have realised the potential racist messages
a skit like this could send.
They’ve gone for publicity and they’ve got it.
Shame Channel Nine, shame.
Daryl doesn’t get it does he.
Lets face it, racism is just a minor issue compared to his ratings.
In fact anything is small compared to his ego.
That’s right and it’s not like Americans have never done anything like this towards us or other countries. I remember when I used to speak to a girl in the US over the phone and one time her friends stole the phone from her and ordered me to speak like a man would to his dog. He who lives in glass houses and all that.
All the laughs from this act come from the fact they are dressed as black people. They are making black people look like buffoons, like Harry said, and people are laughing at them. All the laughs at this sketch are based on racism.
There is no social point or idea, nothing. Just people dressing as black people and acting stupid.
The fact some of the group were indian or lebanese is irrelevant. The world isn’t split into ‘white’ and ‘other.’
This act was embarrassing and dated in 89, America stopped doing Minstrel shows in 1910.
The Kamahl joke compounds the racism. (and highlights how outdated the jokes are)
I agree with lostfan87. This incident shows cultural divides.
Hey Hey is like a daggy old uncle that everyone has.
Annoying at times, embarrassing but usually harmless.
Maybe they could pull Hey Hey off and run old british comedies
like “Love thy Neighbour”.
Nothing wrong with the skit whatsoever. Storm in a teacup.
Blackface painting was a theatrical device used in the early 20th Century by Al Jolson for a start. Blackface painting is nothing more than a prop. If anything it was a tribute to the Jackson Five and not a send up.
Anyone that was offended by the skit is either a racist themselves or an idiot. There is no one more racist than the person that calls you racist.
If an Aboriginal or African American painted their face white and performed say Eminem, would you be offended? Of course not.
If any Australians did find this offensive they’re not very Australian.
Thanks for posting the video David,as i missed the show last night and was wandering what all the fuss is about,after viewing the clip i still don’t understand what all the fuss is about,seems like light entertainment to me.