Ab Fab film accused of ‘yellowface’ over Japanese character casting

The Absolutely Fabulous film has been accused of using “yellowface”, after casting a white actor to play a Japanese character.

The character Huki Muki, a Japanese fashion designer, will be played by Janette Tough, and was spotted filming with Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders.

Margaret Cho, Korean-American comedian, tweeted her disgust at the film’s casting of the character.

She wrote: “Have some respect. Hire Asian actors 4 Asian roles. I’m not going to name the production but I’m DISGUSTED!.

“#YELLOWFACE is racism. Sorry. It’s unacceptable. Not now. I was thrilled about #abfabmovie but now I just can’t be. I’m very disappointed,” Cho added.

“It’s hard enough to get into film and TV as a person of colour – and when roles written for us are played by white actors – it’s an outrage,” Cho later tweeted.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie will be released on 1 July.

A drag act accused of using “blackface” will no longer appear at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT) in London.

Charlie Hides’ character Laquisha Jonz, will no longer appear at the RVT after a campaign to stop future performances was launched on Change.org.

• Nov 29 2023

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