Livid Kamahl has had enough of Hey, Hey It's Saturday
FORMER Hey, Hey It's Saturday regular Kamahl has threatened legal action after he was literally drawn into the Red Faces skit which offended Harry Connick Jr.
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FORMER Hey, Hey It's Saturday regular Kamahl has threatened legal action after he was literally drawn into the Red Faces skit which offended visiting singer Harry Connick Jr and sparked a world racism debate.
Kamahl told The Daily Telegraph he had endured years of racist remarks at his expense on the show but had enough after again being the butt of a joke during the now condemned Jackson Jive sketch.
Connick and host Daryl Somers both denied the six amateur performers "intended any harm" after reviving a skit they did as Sydney University medical students on the program 20 years ago.
Blog: Do you think the Jackson Jive skit was racist?
The dance featured them performing in Al Jolson-style black make-up and afro wigs, with the lead, Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Anand Deva, playing Michael Jackson and wearing white face paint.
The routine was immediately ridiculed by Connick, a judge on the talent segment who gave it a mark of zero and appeared visibly uncomfortable during the live telecast.
While he accepted an on-air apology later in the show and yesterday said that he "did not believe that the performers intended any harm", Connick urged better understanding of the "negative history" of the "blackface image".
"Where I come from, blackface is a very specific and very derogatory thing," he said.
"Perhaps this is different in other parts of the world, but in American culture, the blackface image is steeped in negative history and considered offensive."
Blackface is offensive, says Connick
Connick defended his participation in a 1996 comedy skit on US show MadTV which emerged on YouTube yesterday, in which he played a preacher.
"Those of you who have seen my shows or seen me in several comedic skits on TV know that I have absolutely no problem with comedic send-ups or making fun of myself or others," he said.
His defence of African-Americans reached the world's media, with influential US blog The Huffington Post and London's The Guardian among outlets to carry the story.
After pointing readers to "the mind-boggling video" of the incident The Guardian said of Somers' subsequent apology: "Very good of him. In Australia, of course, it is perfectly acceptable and we thank the nation for yet another important contribution to the annals of human culture."
Meanwhile, Malaysian-born Kamahl was not among the personalities who agreed to return to air for the reunion special, but featured in a cartoon by resident artist Andrew Fyfe, which flashed up on screen during the skit with the words "Where's Kamahl?" The veteran performer, whose "why are people so unkind?" comment featured often as a punchline on Hey, Hey, said he did not watch the show out of disgust.
"It's really just a desperate attempt at notoriety and publicity," he said.
"I used to laugh along when I was a guest but deep down I was thinking why are people so unkind? It's just the same old rubbish.
"They are just trying to push the envelope. Like The Chaser. The Chaser may take it to another level but at least it's witty.
"Hey, Hey is devoid of any real wit.
"It's desperate. It's toilet humour and it should be flushed."
Kamahl said he did not expect to get an apology from Somers or Channel 9.
"If Harry Connick Jr had not been there it would have just slipped through to the keeper," Kamahl said.
"It's not an advantage to be born black in this current society, neither is it to be a woman. Both have to work twice as hard," the singer added.
Dr Suresh DeSilva spoke on behalf of his university friends, claiming that their multi-cultural backgrounds distanced the group from being racists.
The medico with Sri Lankan heritage said the other performers were of Lebanese, Italian, Greek and Indian descent.
"If we had our time again we would wear different make-up and wigs and of course we regret we did it."
