Four episodes of “30 Rock,” the hit comedy series created by actress Tina Fey, are being taken out of circulation on broadcast and television services because they represent actors in blackface, according to an NBC spokesperson.
The request from Fey and Robert Carlock, executive producer and showrunner, means the episodes are being removed from Amazon Prime and Hulu. They will no longer be available for purchase on iTunes and Google Play, and will not be shown as replays on television, according to NBC Universal.
“As we strive to get the job done and improve when it comes to race in America, we believe these episodes with actors with race-changing makeup are taken out of circulation,” said Fey, who was also an executive producer and writer. On the show, she wrote in a note to streaming services.
“Now I understand that ‘intention’ is not a free pass for white people to use these images. I apologize for the pain they have caused. In the future, no comedy-loving child needs to trip over these tropes and be stung for their ugliness. I thank NBC Universal for honoring this request, ”he wrote in the note, which Vulture reported Monday.
Fey portrayed the role of Liz Lemon on the show, which ran from 2006 to 2013, as a satirical behind-the-scenes look at a live sketch through the eyes of its creator, its conservative boss, played by Alec Baldwin, and extravagant. employees.
The process to remove the episodes from the sales platforms began several weeks ago, an NBC Universal spokesperson said Tuesday. The third season episode “Believe in the Stars” was marked “not available” on Amazon Prime on Tuesday, just like the episodes of the fifth season “The Live Show” and “Christmas Attack Zone”, both with Jane Krakowski’s character, Jenna, in a black face.
The sixth season episode “Live From Studio 6H”, which featured actor Jon Hamm as a black face as part of a “Amos ‘n’ Andy” parody, was also reportedly removed from some services. Those four episodes were also not available on Hulu on Tuesday.
The decision to remove the episodes comes as protests of racism and police mistreatment of blacks are echoing across the country, and statues representing Confederate figures, as well as slave owners and traders, are being removed from the public places.
The protests have prompted cultural figures and institutions to reconsider their catalogs and stories and, in some cases, apologize. This month, HBO Max removed from its streaming library “Gone With the Wind,” the 1939 movie that romanticizes the Civil War-era South while overlooking its racial sins.
In May Jimmy Fallon, the host of “The Tonight Show,” apologized for wearing a black face while posing as comedian Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live” two decades ago.
“In 2000, while on SNL, I made the terrible decision to pose as Chris Rock while on the black face,” Fallon said on Twitter. “There is no excuse for this. I am very sorry to make this unquestionably offensive decision and I thank you all for holding me accountable.”
Separately, a video of Jimmy Kimmel, the presenter of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, in the black face while posing as basketball player Karl Malone on “The Man Show” resurfaced last year, as part of a segment in which he repeatedly impersonated the NBA star.
He apologized Tuesday in a statement, saying: “I have long been reluctant to address this as I knew that doing so would be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apology with weakness and encourage leaders who use prejudice to divide us. “
“That delay was a mistake,” he added.
