Comedian Chris Lilley shares photos of himself dressed as a Japanese woman… months after Netflix removed four of his shows because of blackface characters
Chris Lilley has shared photos of himself dressed up as a Japanese woman made famous by one of his shows which was dropped from Netflix because of its blackface sketches.
The comedian first introduced Jen Okazaki, an East Asian character, in his 2011 show, Angry Boys, which was removed from the streaming site in June along with his other shows, Summer Heights High, Jonah from Tonga and We Can be Heroes.
Posing with two children, the 45-year-old introduces himself as the ‘mother and manager of Japanese skateboard legend Tim Okazaki’ in the Instagram images shared on Tuesday.
Defiant: Chris Lilley has shared photos of himself dressed up as a Japanese woman made famous by one of his shows which was dropped from Netflix because of its blackface sketches
Chris adds in the caption: ‘#jenokazaki #chrislilley #angryboys #gaystyle #skateboardinggaystyle #timokazaki’.
Wearing a long black wig and glasses, Chris is helping a child on a skateboard ramp.
This comes four months after his shows were removed from Netflix, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Summer Heights High, Jonah from Tonga, Angry Boys and We Can be Heroes were pulled on June 11, as streaming services worldwide removed offensive content in response to George Floyd protests.
Throwback character: The comedian first introduced Jen Okazaki, an East Asian character, in his 2011 show, Angry Boys, which was removed from the streaming site in June along with his other shows, Summer Heights High, Jonah from Tonga and We Can be Heroes
Character: Posing with two Japanese children, the 45-year-old introduces himself as the ‘mother and manager of Japanese skateboard legend Tim Okazaki’ in the Instagram images shared on Tuesday
In the dumped mockumentary-style shows Chris appeared in brownface as Tongan schoolboy Jonah Takalua, in blackface as US rapper S.mouse, and mocked up as stereotypical Chinese-Australian physics student Ricky Wong.
Chris then came under fire after real-life Sydney student Filipe Mahe revealed his appearance in ABC documentary Our Boys was the inspiration for controversial Tongan character Jonah, leaving him feeling ‘angry and exploited’.
Lilley chose not to acknowledge any of the backlash, but instead chose to share a deleted scene from Jonah From Tonga on his Facebook page.
Despite the removal of four of his shows, Chris will still have two series available on Netflix – Ja’mie: Private School Girl and Lunatics, in which he dons brownface to play dog whisperer Jana Melhoopen-Jonks.
In action: Wearing a long black wig and glasses, Chris is helping a child on a skateboard ramp
Chris has previously defended his style of comedy. Last year he told The Weekend Australian: ‘I’m not trying to do the thing that is trendy at the moment.’
The award-winning comedian went on to say he would continue making ‘clever, layered’ characters.
Defending his controversial characters, he said: ‘When you meet them, you think “I know that type of person”, but then there is a twist, something crazy.’
‘[In] the end you think “Actually, I kinda relate to this, she just did that thing that I do everyday”.’
Dropped: This comes four months after his shows were removed from Netflix, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement