*In a galaxy far, far away from common sense, Billy Dee Williams boldly declares his support for actors donning blackface, because, in his universe, anything goes in the name of “craft.”
During a recent episode of “Club Random” with Bill Maher, the ‘Star Wars’ legend served up his thoughts like a questionable dish at a spaceport cantina.
Singing praises for Laurence Olivier’s blackface gig in “Othello,” Billy Dee finds humor in a performance that most find cringe-worthy.
“When he did Othello, I fell out laughing,” Williams said of Olivier, who wore blackface in the 1965 screen adaptation of “Othello,” the Shakespearean tragedy. He stuck his ass out and walked around because Black people are supposed to have big asses,” the “Star Wars” actor went on, prompting Maher to jokingly reference the controversy Bradley Cooper received for wearing a prosthetic nose to play composer Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro. I thought it was hysterical. I loved it.”
When Maher dares to suggest that perhaps blackface has been relegated to the trash compactor of history, Billy Dee Williams’ reaction is as baffling as trying to navigate an asteroid field blindfolded.
“Why not?” he muses, as if societal progress is just another Sith conspiracy.
Their exchange feels like watching two speeder bikes collide in slow motion, with Billy Dee and Bill Maher careening through the wreckage of common decency and cultural sensitivity.
In the end, Billy Dee Williams’ parting shot about avoiding a “victimhood mentality” lands with all the grace of a bantha stampede. But fear not, citizens of the galaxy, for while Lando may be chill with the idea, the rest of us are content to leave the blackface parade parked in the Mos Eisley junkyard where it belongs.
Meanwhile, as you can imagine, Billy Dee’s comments are not finding favor with a lot of folks. One in particular is former Ghetto Boys rapper and podcaster Willie D, who reacted by calling Williams a hypocrite, among other things. Check it out below.
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