‘The Mighty Boosh’ Removed From Netflix UK Over Blackface Concerns

By Jake Kanter, Deadline
Published June 11, 2020, 9:14 a.m. ET

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The Mighty Boosh

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Netflix’s purge of comedies featuring white performers in blackface continued last night when the streamer removed cult British show The Mighty Boosh.

Created by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, and produced by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow Productions, the program featured a character called The Spirit of Jazz in an episode titled Electro.

For the role, Fielding was painted in black makeup and wore a dread-like wig below a white top hat. The character appeared in later episodes over the course of the three series.

Netflix has taken down its entire Mighty Boosh collection rather than targeting specific episodes. It follows the streamer’s decision to take down three other British comedies, Little Britain, Come Fly With Me, and The League Of Gentlemen, over blackface concerns.

Deadline also revealed on Wednesday that Netflix had removed four Chris Lilley comedies in Australia for the same reason. Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes, and Jonah From Tonga were taken down.

The BBC holds a different view on some of the shows Netflix has taken action over. Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes, The League Of Gentlemen, and The Mighty Boosh remain on iPlayer.

Elsewhere, UK presenters Ant and Dec have apologized for impersonating people of color on their ITV entertainment show Saturday Night Takeaway. They said they have taken steps to ensure the footage is scrubbed from the internet.

“During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the Undercover segment of the show. We realise that this was wrong and want to say that we are sincerely sorry to everyone that we offended,” they said. “We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make these sketches today.��

Where to stream The Mighty Boosh