Recently there has been a wave of white actors refusing to voice characters that are people of color and refuse to profit off of performances they wore blackface for. Notable actors who have done this are Jenny Slate from “Big Mouth”, Mike Henry famous for voicing Cleveland in “Family Guy” and Tina Fey from “30 Rock”. Even Allison Brie lamented her past performance as an Asian character in the hit series Bojack Horseman.
“Mad Men” will have a disclaimer when the show airs on the AMC streaming platform saying “This episode contains disturbing images related to race in America. One of the characters is shown in blackface as part of an episode that shows how commonplace racism was in America in 1963. In it’s reliance on historical authenticity, the series producers are committed to exposing the injustices and inequities within our society that continue to this day so we can examine even the most painful parts of our history in order to reflect on who we are today and who we want to become. We are therefore presenting the original episode in its entirety.”
If you watch the the third episode of the third season of “Mad Men” Roger Sterling, played by John Slattery, wears blackface while performing “My Old Kentucky Home” at a country club Derby party.
“Mad Men” will be available to watch on imdb on July 15th and this fall on AMC.
