Lordy, it has been a week – not least owing to its leaking of three (THREE) separate (SEPARATE) photographs of Justin Trudeau in varying versions of black and brown face. I mean, it sounds like there might be more to come – on Thursday, the Canadian Prime Minister said he was ‘wary of being definitive about this’ because ‘the recent pictures that came out, I had not remembered’. Right. It’s the kind of political scandal that journalists dream of – the hypocrisy! The fall of hallowed heroes! And don’t forget the upcoming election (Canadians go to the polls on October 21st, to either re-elect Trudeau or kick him to the curb)! What on EARTH is happening!
Besides being staggeringly offensive, it seems the revelation of Trudeau’s historic behaviour has also proved ample ammunition for searing comedy – black British icon Sir Lenny Henry, no less, introduced himself as the Canadian prime minister in a Royal Television Society speech this week. ‘Nice to see you. I am Justin Trudeau’, said Henry to the crowd, before promising that ‘I'll be answering your questions any minute now.’
Fittingly enough, the event’s focus was on-screen diversity: after skewering the disgraced politician, Sir Lenny spoke out about how to correct the dearth of BAME talent in television as well as the breath-taking statistics that only 13.6% of staff behind the camera are women and only 0.3% are disabled: ‘Take all the money, staff, time and effort into diversity to increase diversity on things that are actually commissioned – this isn’t a revolution, this is simply copying what broadcasters do when they actually want to increase diversity.’ Henry continued ‘we’ve been talking about diversity long enough, we know what works and what doesn’t, we need to scrap diversity schemes and put our money where our mouth is.’
‘Diversity makes TV better. Diversity is not an afterthought, it’s how you make great television. Diversity creates a better society’, said Henry. Justin, are you taking notes? Trudeau’s certainly been making his own speeches this week, addressing the black and brownface controversy – ‘I’m pissed off at myself, I’m disappointed in myself’, said the prime minister. ‘I should have known better then, but I didn’t, and I am deeply sorry for it. I’m going to ask Canadians to forgive me for what I did.’ As for whether his electorate can overcome the scandal, only time will tell – and it’s a-tickin’.
READ MORE: This Is Why Brownface And Blackface Have Always Been Offensive, And Always Will Be