David Walliams and Matt Lucas have apologised after ‘Little Britain’ was pulled from streaming services for the use of blackface.
The comedy duo have released a joint statement to apologise for their portrayal in the BBC One show.
In the statement posted to Twitter, David wrote: "Matt and I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races. Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong & we are very sorry."
Whilst Matt shared the same sentiment, apologising for their portrayal of others amidst the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘Little Britain’ was been removed from BBC iPlayer, BritBox, and Netflix due to the show’s use of blackface.
In a statement about the removal of the BBC comedy show, which originally aired between 2003 and 2005, a spokesperson for the BBC told the Daily Mail newspaper: "There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review. Times have changed since ‘Little Britain’ first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer."
Since the show began in 2003, ‘Little Britain’ has long been the subject of controversy surrounding its sketches, including its depiction of "portly Thai bride" Ting Tong – played by Matt Lucas – and of Desiree DeVere, a black woman played by David Walliams in full blackface.
Alongside ‘Little Britain’, Netflix has also axed spin-off series ‘Come Fly With Me’.
BritBox – which brings together both BBC and ITV content in one streaming platform – said in their own statement: "Times have changed since ‘Little Britain’ first aired, so it is not currently available on BritBox. ‘Come Fly With Me’ has not been available on the service for six months."