A scene from The Office featuring Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) in blackface has been edited out. Creator Greg Daniels said in a statement of the 2012 episode: “The Office is about a group of people trying to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager. The show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion. Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.”
In the episode, Dwight attempts to convince his Dunder Mifflin pals to celebrate a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas in the scene. It will no longer appear in Netflix or in syndication.
Netflix also recently pulled “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” episode of Community, in which Ken Jeong‘s character wears blackface to play an elf. 30 Rock‘s Tina Fey asked NBC to remove multiple episodes featuring blackface, and Hulu pulled three episodes of Scrubs.
Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have also come under fire for previous appearances in blackface.