Scrubs has removed multiple episodes containing blackface from Hulu

By William Hughes  |  June 24, 2020 | 9:54pm
Aux Features TV
Scrubs has removed multiple episodes containing blackface from Hulu
Photo: Munawar Hosain

Two days after NBCUniversal announced—per requests from producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock—that it was pulling several episodes of 30 Rock off the internet due to their containing instances of blackface, Variety reports that long-running medical sitcom Scrubs is now following suit. In fact, the issue was actually addressed in the Twitter comments on Variety’s post about the 30 Rock story, with creator Bill Lawrence stepping in to report that the process of removing three episodes of the show from Hulu was already under way.

The three episodes in question are “My Fifteen Seconds,” from the show’s third season, and “My Jiggly Ball” and “My Chopped Liver,” from the fifth. The sequences include a flashback in which Zach Braff’s character J.D. appeared in blackface for a college party, and fantasy sequences in which both Braff and co-star Sarah Chalke wore blackface to imitate co-star Donald Faison.

Although the episodes in question have already been removed from Hulu, it’s not clear yet whether they’ll also be pulled from other digital storefronts—including iTunes and Amazon—the way that the 30 Rock episodes have been. Lawrence’s tweet about their removal comes as more and more shows come under criticism for engaging in the practice of blackface, including the removal of an episode of W/ Bob And David from Netflix, and Jimmy Kimmel’s recent apology for his impressions of Karl Malone.

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