Netflix has pulled an episode of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’ sketch comedy series “W/ Bob and David” over a sketch that features Cross in blackface, TheWrap has learned.
The sketch, called “Know Your Rights,” was in the third episode of the show, which aired for one season in 2015.
Cross alerted his Twitter followers that the sketch was being pulled on Monday.
“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…well, here’s your last chance to figure it out,” he wrote.
Odenkirk replied, “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.”
Cross-linked to a YouTube clip of the sketch, which has since been made private.
According to Variety, in the sketch, Cross’s character is named Gilvin Daughtry, a man who says he is part of an organization “Citizens Against Unlawful Abuse.”
“I’m going to show you how to maintain your rights in the face of police harassment,” he says, filming himself approaching a police officer played by Keegan-Michael Key.
After failing to provoke violence from the officer, Daughtry goes away and comes back wearing blackface.
“Hello, brother. How can I be of service to you today?” he says while the words “every race in America has equal rights” appear at the bottom of the screen.
Key’s officer defers the situation to a white officer, who then pepper sprays Daughtry in the face, tases him, and sprays him a second time.
The decision comes in the wake of Netflix’s removal of other shows and movies containing blackface portrayals, including Chris Lilley’s “Summer Heights High,” “Angry Boys,” “We Can Be Heroes” and “Jonah From Tonga.”
HBO Max has also recently removed “Gone With The Wind,” which has been criticized for racist depictions of black people. Multiple cop shows have also been canceled this week, including Paramount Network’s “Cops” and A&E’s “Live PD.”