"Scrubs" is the latest TV show to confront
its history of blackface.
After NBC recently vowed to remove episodes of "30 Rock" featuring
characters in blackface, "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence confirmed on
Tuesday the popular NBC/ABC medical series would follow suit. Hulu,
which currently distributes "Scrubs," has since pulled three episodes
from the platform.
A Twitter user with the handle @SagMurd requested "Scrubs" take down
episodes with blackface scenes after "30 Rock" executive producers
Tina Fey and Robert Carlock asked NBC to do the same. And Lawrence
swiftly replied that such a move was "already in the works."
"Scrubs" ran for nine seasons, from 2001 to 2010.
No longer available on Hulu are "My Friend the Doctor" (Season 3,
Episode 8), "My Jiggly Ball" (Season 5, Episode 4) and "My Chopped
Liver" (Season 5, Episode 17). According to Variety, one "Scrubs"
episode involves Zach Braff's character wearing blackface at a party,
while a different episode shows Sarah Chalke's character in blackface
during a fantasy sequence.
Earlier this week, Fey announced NBC had agreed to scrap "30 Rock"
episodes featuring blackface and apologized "for the pain they have
caused." Her statement sparked a backlash, however, from several
users on Twitter who pointed out racist story lines in other Fey
creations, including the 2004 comedy "Mean Girls" and Netflix's
"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," which wrapped last year.
"I understand now that 'intent' is not a free pass for white people
to use these images," Fey wrote in a statement obtained Monday by
Vulture. "Going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on
these tropes and be stung by their ugliness. I thank NBCUniversal for
honoring this request."
Other celebrities who have apologized for blackface incidents in
recent weeks include late-night comedians Jimmy Fallon, who wore
blackface for a 2000 "Saturday Night Live" skit, and Jimmy Kimmel,
who appeared in blackface multiple times on "The Man Show," which ran
from 1999 to 2004.
"I have long been reluctant to address this, as I knew doing so would
be celebrated as a victory by those who equate apologies with
weakness and cheer for leaders who use prejudice to divide us,"
Kimmel wrote in the statement provided Tuesday to Entertainment
Tonight.
"That delay was a mistake. There is nothing more important to me than
your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or
offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke."