British comedy series ‘Little Britain’ has been removed by Over the Top (OTT) platform Netflix 

as well as other streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and BritBox over the show’s use of blackface.

In wake of the Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of African American George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, the entertainment industry has come under the radar for racial insensitivity.

Blackface is a form of makeup used by non-black actors to portray a black character. The Black Lives Matter movement has brought up the question whether the use of blackface characters in TV shows and films is acceptable in today’s progressive society. “I’m not surprised that Little Britain is being put on blast due to the use of blackface. There are multiple childhood shows that exhibit racist undertones and stereotypes mocking an entire community. I used to watch this show religiously and was blinded to how harmful it was,” said a viewer.

A BBC spokesman told Variety, “There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review. Times have changed since ‘Little Britain’ first aired, so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.”

Series creators and stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams have previously expressed their regret for using blackface. In a 2017 interview to The Big Issue, Matt had said, “Basically, I wouldn’t make that show now. It would upset people. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I’d do now.” Earlier Netflix had removed their other series, ‘Come Fly With Me’.

Amidst the protests, many people from the industry have been let go. Hartley Sawyer from ‘Flash’ was fired for her racist tweets from 2012 and 2014. Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni from ‘Vanderpump Rules’ were also fired due to racist tweets.