As streaming services continue to reevaluate their catalogues during the current cultural reckoning of racism and police brutality, Netflix has decided to remove numerous British comedies over the use of blackface. Per The Guardian, popular sketch shows The Mighty Boosh, Little Britain, The League of Gentlemen, and Come Fly With Me are currently unavailable to stream due to the frequency of white actors portraying characters of color. Netflix has not offered any comment on the removal decision or if the shows will be available to stream in the future. David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who starred in Little Britain and its follow-up series, Come Fly With Me, have apologized for their use of blackface in the shows, which aimed to satirize modern life in the nation. “David and I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races,†Lucas wrote on June 13. “Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong and we are very sorry.â€
The offending Mighty Boosh sketch featured co-creator Noel Fielding, now a judge on The Great British Baking Show, playing a fictional jazz musician named Howlin’ Jimmy Jefferson. On The League of Gentlemen, co-creator Reece Shearsmith portrayed a character named Papa Lazarou, who’s a self-described “blacked-up†circus ringmaster. While Fielding has yet to comment on portraying his character, in an interview earlier this year, Shearsmith said that he understood why people would view Papa Lazarou as offensive. “But it was never an existing character,†he explained. “It was not me doing a black man. It was always this clown-like make-up and we just came up with what we thought was the scariest idea to have in a sort of Child Catcher–like way. And I don’t think we ever had any complaints then.â€