The Celebrity Truth

The frontman of the now-infamous Australian blackface skit on Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Anand Deva, has apologized, saying the skit was never meant to cause offense, and admitting that he would “absolutely not” have performed the act on American TV. The Sydney-based plastic surgeon, who is of Indian descent, said, “Clearly, all of us want to apologize.”

Following international attention, Dr Deva – one of the six doctors who starred in the skit on Wednesday (October 7) – went public and confirmed that the ‘Jackson Jive’ act on the show’s popular Red Faces segment was never meant to cause offense.

“Clearly, all of us want to apologize. I mean, we have offended some people no doubt, particularly [US singer] Harry Connick Jr, so I want to say on behalf of all of us that this was really not intended… [to be] anything to do with racism at all,” he told Fairfax Radio Network.

In the skit Dr Deva’s face was painted white, impersonating Michael Jackson, while his back-up dancers wore black face paint and black wigs.

It was a reprisal of the same skit the group of six had performed on the show 20 years ago, when they were all medical students.

“I am an Indian, and five of the six of us are from multicultural backgrounds, and to be called a racist… I don’t think I have ever been called that ever in my life before,” Dr Deva told Fairfax radio network.

“Anyone who knows us as a group, we are intelligent people, we are all from different racial backgrounds so I am really truly surprised.”

When he was asked if he would have done the same skit in United States, Dr Deva replied, “Absolutely not.”

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Photo: HarryConnickJnr.com

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