Mad Men Will Still Feature Blackface Episode Despite BLM Protests

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

AMC’s Mad Men will appear across all streaming platforms later in the month, even an episode in which a character wears blackface. This Wednesday, Lionsgate dropped a statement in which they explained their decision not to eliminate one of Season 3’s episodes, “My Old Kentucky Home,” despite the recent removal of similar episodes from other series like Scrubs, Community, and 30 Rock.

According to The Los Angeles Times, when the series makes its way to Amazon’s IMDb TV on the 15th of July, the episode will come attached with a disclaimer which explains the use of blackface. Blackface has become a point of contention once again in the mainstream culture, with even stars like Jimmy Fallon coming under fire. 

Reportedly, one episode of Mad Men features Roger Sterling singing to Jane, portrayed by Peyton List, while wearing blackface. According to the LA Times, Don Draper, portrayed by Jon Hamm, becomes visibly perturbed by the incident and asks his wife if they can go.

Earlier this year, Tina Fey asked NBC to drop four episodes of 30 Rock in which characters wore blackface. She wrote an apology for the pain the content creators caused.

As it was noted above, many other series did the same thing, including The Office, The Golden Girls, as well as Community and Scrubs.

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While the idea has been hailed by many in the entertainment industry and in the mainstream media, social media users have been far less forgiving of the practice. Users have argued that it was better to continue showing the episodes but with a contextual note.

Reportedly, Mad Men will hit streaming platforms on IMDb TV before making its way back to AMC this fall. Of course, the issue of systemic racism became more widespread in the general culture following the Black Lives Matter protests that began shortly after the death of George Floyd.

Since then, studios and networks have dropped many series, actors, actresses, and particular episodes which some have deemed as offensive. Moreover, some showrunners have stated that TV cop shows may contribute to the way in which the public perceives police officers.