... but did anyone hear about what happened when Harry Connick Jr went to Australia recently? He was on this show called "Hey Hey" as a judge. It's kind of like "The Gong Show". Anyway, the act in question was a "tribute" to Michael Jackson. These white guys dressed up in suits, Afro wigs and black face makeup pretending to be The Jackson Five. The "main" guy dressed as Michael Jackson and he didn't have much makeup on at all.

Anyway, when it was over, the judges (whom I didn't recognize except for Harry) were asked to give the segment a number. Harry gave it "0" and it was only after the emcee came over and asked if he was offended did Harry say yes. He was very gracious about it, and said that speaking as an American he was offended and if he had known that type of skit would be featured on the show he probably wouldn't have agreed to do it. He also said that if that had been aired in the US people would have freaked.

OMG, I was on Facebook earlier and I was appalled at the horrible comments people were making toward him. He even replied to a couple of them, but subtly. People were calling him racist and everything. I mean, I had to scroll through at least seven pages to even find the video in question.

I am white, and it was a little offensive to me, but it didn't bother me that much. What bothered me was how AWFUL it was to begin with! Not funny at all, even though it was meant to be. Terrible singing and I would think that fans of Michael Jackson would be appalled, not just white people.

Seriously though, Harry said nothing about whites or blacks in general; only that it offended him as an American. I'm probably biased because I love Harry so much; I'm a major fan, but I was surprised at how much of a riot this caused.

So the reason I posted the topic the way I did is because I am praying that this thread doesn't turn into a racial thing. I just wondered if anyone had seen the skit in question.

If you want, I can post it here, but for now I think I'll refrain. However, I'd did find this statement from him on his website: http://www.connick.com/home
and now I realize exactly why he was so offended by the black face thing. He's from New Orleans and that kind of thing is considered terrible down there. I find it absolutely ridiculous that people are saying that he's racist when he constantly talks about musicians that he admires; most being from New Orleans and a lot of them being black. Plus, he has black band members (all of which are incredibly talented) and so forth.

I actually admire him more now for speaking his mind and doing it so eloquently. I didn't think that was possible for me to like him more!:)

Andrea

PS: I hope this thread in general doesn't offend anyone. It's a really delicate subject and this was the easiest way I knew how to approach it.

Yeah, I heard about that. What a mess. ohno:

I heard about it and saw the skit. Apparently the same skit won when done 20 yrs ago. However, thankfully we've improved a lot in the last 20 years. Not only is the "humor" in a skit like that outdated back to the days of vaudville, but I found it in rather bad taste so soon after MJ's death.

I personally, applaud Harry for standing up for his principles.

i saw it on sky news 2 days ago and yes it was terrible, although the fact that it happened it australia when you think about it is not of a coincidence, as unlike the UK, U.S., canada for example, it's not as racially diverse compared to those countries.

there aren't as many black, mixed race people born and living in australia.

I think I'm more upset over all those comments I read on Facebook, calling Harry a racist. I know he reads those because he replied to a couple of them, although I think the ones he replied to were people he knew, but still. Even though he was amazingly gracious about the whole thing and I loved his statement on his website about suggesting that people look into the history of blackface, you know it had to be a little upsetting to him. He is the last person on Earth that I would ever picture being surrounded by controversy. I can see Australia's side of it too, but had someone from Australia come over here and saw something that was offensive to them, I certainly wouldn't go over to their facebook page and denounce them like that. Just awful...

he's a big Nothing.

i saw it on sky news 2 days ago and yes it was terrible, although the fact that it happened it australia when you think about it is not of a coincidence, as unlike the UK, U.S., canada for example, it's not as racially diverse compared to those countries.

there aren't as many black, mixed race people born and living in australia.


Well, that's what bothered me so much about this. I can't for the life of me understand why people are calling him racist when he said nothing against other races in the first place.

I suppose I should just get over this but I just find it really disturbing. I think I'm more upset over this than he is! Maybe if he hadn't mentioned the US by name and just said that where he comes from blackface is considered in poor taste, no one would have made a big deal about it. Sorry if I'm :horse: here, and if it had been anyone else it wouldn't bother me so much. Unfortunately it was my favorite celebrity.
The worst was that I posted a comment on Harry's Facebook page in support of him and I got all these horrible responses from people-lots from Australia-attacking ME!!! :confused:

Andrea

Wow, Harry finds blackface offensive and somehow he's the racist, nice. :rolleyes: