Netflix Pulls ‘W/Bob & David’ Episode Over Blackface Sketch

Erik Pedersen
·2 min read

Click here to read the full article.

Netflix has taken down an episode of W/Bob and David, its 2015 series starring the Mr. Show duo of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, over a sketch that showed Cross in blackface, Deadline has confirmed.

Titled “Know Your Rights,” the sketch featured Cross as Gilvin Daughtry, the leader of Citizens Against Unlawful Abuse!, who stops at a DUI checkpoint and interacts with an affable policeman played by Keegan-Michael Key. The driver repeatedly tries to force a confrontation with the cop and ultimately applies blackface in an effort to prove that “every race” has equal rights in the U.S. Daughtry then is tased and pepper-sprayed.

More from Deadline

Cross noted the sketch in a tweet Monday that included video that since has been disabled. He wrote: “Hey all, Netflix is going to pull this sketch from With Bob & David because the ridiculous, foolish character I play puts on “black face” at one point. The point of this was to underscore the absurdity.”

His partner Odenkirk, who has earned multiple Emmy noms for playing the lead character on and producing Better Call Saul, retweeted Cross’ post and added his own comment: “We considered every choice we made doing our show, and always aimed to make you laugh and think, and never make an obvious or easy point…that very much includes this sketch. Our comedy is always about the human element, never about making a political point.”

Denise Petski contributed to this report.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.