Actor and comedian Nick Cannon ruffled a few feathers when he dressed himself up as a white person to promote his upcoming album “White People Party Music.”
Things started when Cannon introduced his character “Connor Smallnut” on Instagram with this photo of him in “whiteface” and the quote “It’s official… I’m White!!!” He punctuated the post with the hashtags #GoodCredit #DogKissing #BeerPong#FarmersMarkets #FistPumping #CreamCheeseEating#RacialDraft “Bro I got drafted!!”
Several of his Twitter followers and some media outlets took offense to the costume claiming reverse racism, prompting Nick to respond via Twitter.
“Hold up… What the f#ck is “White Face”??? Did I just create a new term??? Nice!!! LOL,” he said in one Tweet, but got more serious in another. “It’s funny how people take themselves so seriously. People love drama! We feed off of it. Just relax and have fun!!”
He also pointed out Robert Downey, Jr’s use of Blackface in the 2008 film “Tropic Thunder,” which invoked some angry responses when he did it, but Cannon was in full support.
“Shout out to @RobertDowneyJr This is one of my favorite characters of all time! Hilarious!!! There is a big difference between Humor and Hatred.”
“I love this conversation though,” he added. “It’s showing a lot of people’s true colors… #punintended #wppm woooo!!!”
We’re not sure if the backlash reflects the disconnect the public has with the history of black comedians–because this is certainly not the first time this has been done–or that Cannon is simply an easy target. Check out Connor in action:
For Nick Cannon’s sake we hope this album is good.
Take a look at our gallery of Black people in whiteface and tell us if you think this is funny or offensive:
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