A scene from “The Office” sees the character Nate Nickerson, played by actor Mark Proksch, wearing blackface and has now been edited.
The 2012 episode titled “Dwight Christmas” was referenced in a memo issued by show creator Greg Daniels, who wrote that the scene was intended to “expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion,” Variety reported Friday.
“‘The Office’ is a group of people who try to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager,” Daniels told the outlet. “The program used satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion.”
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Photo: (lr) Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly Halpert – (Photo by: Chris Haston / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
“Today we cut out a photo of a black-faced actor that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice,” he continued. “Blackface is unacceptable and making the point in such a graphic way is hurtful and wrong. I regret the pain it caused. “
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The scene is also edited from the Netflix version and will not appear in any syndicated episodes, nor will it be seen when “The Office” premieres on the NBC streaming platform Peacock in 2021.
May 16, 2013: This publicity image released by NBC shows the cast of ‘The Office’ in a scene from the series finale.
(AP, file)
The movement comes amid a quick jolt across the entire Hollywood episode landscape with black-faced characters.
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On Monday, Deadline reported that “30 Rock” creator / executive producer / showrunner Tina Fey and her co-showrunner Robert Carlock urged NBCUniversal superiors to remove episodes of the show with blackface.
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Hulu also removed episodes of the popular hospital sitcom “Scrubs” from its streaming service, and Variety also reported Friday that Netflix took steps to drop the episode “Community Dungeons & Dragons” from Advanced, in which the character from Ken Jeong sports a dark makeup shadow to portray a “dark elf”.
