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#Blackface #Sinterklaas #Netherlands #BlackPete #Belgium #Racisim When the festive figure Sinterklaas rolled through the Dutch town of Apeldoorn in November, he was greeted by TV crews, cheering crowds, and an inevitable round of furious protests. The anger was not directed at Sinterklaas himself, whose annual "arrival" festival marks the start of the Christmas season in the country. It was aimed at his sidekick,  Black Pete  -- whose appearance in blackface, a curly afro wig and red lipstick divides the country on an annual basis. But while  controversies over the continued existence  of Black Pete in the Netherlands have become as well-established a tradition as the character itself, one if its bordering nations is yet to hold a reckoning over its own relationship with blackface. Belgium has a blackface problem. The country shares in the Black Pete tradition, albeit less enthusiastically than the Netherlands. But around Belgium, few seasons pass with...

#Prada #Blackface #Racist is currently in hot water with a lot of consumers after the company released a new campaign. For its Pradamalia collection, the Italian fashion brand used figurines almost identical to the Little Black Sambo characters, complete with huge red lips, a wide smile, and bulging eyes. Yet, in a statement, the company said it didn’t realize the figurines looked like blackface, which many found impossible to believe. “#Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery,” the brand tweeted. “In this interest, we will withdraw the characters in question from display and circulation.” “#Prada Group abhors racist imagery,” they added. “The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.” But a lot of people weren’t buying their explanation and called for an immediate boyc...

We need more voices on our television screens that reflect where this country really is and where it’s going, writes Stereo Williams. Megyn Kelly is out at NBC. Things aren’t official as of yet, but numerous reports indicate the host won’t be returning to her 9 a.m. show Megyn Kelly Today. NBC News bet big on Megyn Kelly when the network lured her from Fox News with a three-year, $69 million deal, seeking a hike in Today ratings that were already strong. They also expected an anchor for a 60 Minutes-style Sunday evening news magazine. But that Sunday show crashed and burned, as did ratings for the 9 a.m. hour of Today during Kelly’s tenure—according to Nielsen, the show fell about 14 percent to 2.4 million viewers. The New York Times reported that NBC News president Noah Oppenheim and Megyn Kelly Today executive producer Jackie Levin told staffers on Thursday to prep for a little hiatus: “Mr. Oppenheim and Ms. Levin also informed them that they would be moved into new jobs at the ...

Megyn Kelly is a day away from settling with NBC, and we've just learned something shocking -- NBC was paying her $25 million a year and the network may end up settling for close to $50 MILLION. Sources familiar with the negotiations tell TMZ ... Megyn's deal is 3 years firm, and she has around 1 year and 10 months to go. We're told her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, is going to have a call with NBC brass tomorrow and demand the network pay her full remaining salary, or face a lawsuit. We're told Freedman's case is that Kelly was targeted early on after she made critical remarks about Matt Lauer on her show after he was fired for sexual harassment. Lauer was well-liked at NBC, and the staff and talent became royally pissed off at Kelly because they felt she was attacking Lauer "with glee." Our sources say Kelly believes her comments about NBC News Chairman Andy Lack pissed off Lack and other brass, and they had it out for her. As for ending the relationsh...

Megyn Kelly's NBC News show is reportedly in jeopardy of being canceled amid growing backlash over her defense of the use of blackface. Kelly apologized Wednesday for the comments she made on her show Tuesday while discussing Halloween costumes. "You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween or a black person who puts on white face for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressed up as like a character," Kelly said on Tuesday. Just one day later, Kelly reversed course. "I learned that given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not okay for that to be part of any costume," Kelly said. Her show, "Megyn Kelly Today," has suffered from poor ratings since its launch last September and has had its share of controversies, but her latest comments have also rankled others inside NBC News. The backlash from prominent figures at NBC News was ...

Megyn Kelly sparked social-media backlash Monday in a discussion on her “Megyn Kelly Today” about Halloween celebrants wearing black or white face makeup. Kelly wondered aloud during a conversation about universities putting pressure on students not to wear costumes that might be deemed offensive. “What is racist?” she asked a panel that included Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff, and Melissa Rivers. “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay just as long as you were dressing as a character.” Kelly suggested that some people who get in costume are simply trying to get into character, as in a case she cited the example of Luann de Lesseps, who once generated debate by going as Diana Ross for Halloween. “There was a controversy on ‘The Real Housewives of New York’ with Luann, as she dressed as Diana Ross and she made her skin look darker than it reall...