The Office Episode Featuring Blackface Has Been Edited for Netflix

A Season 9 episode of The Office, "Dwight Christmas," is being edited for streaming to remove a scene in which a character appears in blackface. According to Variety, the scene will be taken out of the episode while the series streams on Netflix and remain out when The Office switches streaming homes, over to NBCUniversal’s platform Peacock, in 2021. The show’s creator Greg Daniels issued the following statement:

“The Office is about a group of people trying to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager,” said Daniels. “The show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion. Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.”

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=everything-coming-to-nbcuniversals-peacock&captions=true"] In related news, Netflix and Hulu are both pulling the “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” episode of Community as it features Ken Jeong’s character, Ben Chang, wearing dark make-up to play a “dark elf.” “We support the decision to remove the episode,” a spokesperson for Community told Variety. In other TV news, voice actor Mike Henry will no longer be playing the role of Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, The Boys' Season 2 premiere date has been revealed, and Netflix's Cuphead series has a new teaser. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/14/peacock-xfinity-preview-trailer"]