Indigenous Studio 10 host Narelda Jacobs blasts Daryl Somers as footage of him wearing blackface on Hey Hey It’s Saturday resurfaces
Indigenous journalist Narelda Jacobs has shared her thoughts on blackface after footage resurfaced on Tuesday of Daryl Somers performing the offensive act in the 1980s.
In the now-controversial skit, Daryl performed Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World in blackface alongside New Zealand jazz singer Ricky May on a 1988 episode of variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
Speaking about the video on Studio 10, Narelda said that blackface ‘facilitates a negative stereotype of black people’.
‘It shocked people’: Narelda Jacobs (pictured) shared her thoughts on blackface on Studio 10 on Tuesday, footage resurfaced of Daryl Somers performing the offensive act in the 1980s
The 44-year-old also referred to another incident in 2009 in which a comedy troupe dressed up as the Jackson Five in blackface for a Red Faces segment.
American singer Harry Connick Jr. was a guest judge on the episode. He gave the performance a score of zero and said that he never would’ve appeared on the show if he had known that it would involve blackface.
Referencing the incident, Narelda said: ‘When [Harry] called it out, it shocked people in Australia, because we probably weren’t used to being called out for such things.
Flashback: In the now-controversial skit, Daryl (right) performed Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World in blackface alongside New Zealand jazz singer Ricky May (left) on a 1988 episode of variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday
‘Had we known then what we know now, nobody would have been in blackface.’
She added: ‘What’s really heartening is when people acknowledge that they had done the wrong thing.’
Daryl apologised to Harry at the end of the live segment at the time, saying: ‘I think we may have offended you with that act and I deeply apologise on behalf of all of us.
Stereotype: Speaking about the footage on Tuesday’s Studio 10, Narelda said that blackface ‘facilitates a negative stereotype of black people’
‘Because I know that to your countrymen, that’s an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologise to you.’
Harry responded: ‘I know it was done humorously, but we’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons that when we see something like that we take it really to heart.
‘I feel like I am at home here and if I knew that was going to be part of the show, I probably, I definitely, wouldn’t have done it.’
Shocking: Narelda also referred to another incident in 2009 in which a comedy troupe dressed up as the Jackson Five in blackface for a Red Faces segment (pictured)
On Tuesday’s Studio 10, Narelda also addressed comedian Magda Szubanski’s history with blackface.
She praised Magda for giving a ‘very heartfelt apology’ last year after an old clip of her doing a skit in blackface in the early 1990s resurfaced online.
Studio 10 airs weekdays from 8am on Channel 10
Disapproval: Harry Connick Jr. was a guest judge on the episode. He awarded the performance a score of zero and said he wouldn’t have appeared on the show if he’d known blackface would be involved