Justin Bieber (L) and Billy Crystal (Middle) in blackface as Sammy Davis Jr. during a skit at the 84th Annual Academy Awards
*Billy Crystal decided to dust off his old “Saturday Night Live” impersonation of Sammy Davis Jr. for his opening number as Oscar host – and let’s just say it did not go over well with some folks.
As part of Crystal’s opening montage, he parodied Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” going back in time to the 1920s. Then Crystal, performing as Davis in blackface, popped up and suggested they go kill Hitler.
Crystal played Davis the same way many times on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s, but that didn’t stop hundreds from questioning the bit on Twitter.
When Octavia Spencer won supporting actress for “The Help,” comedian Paul Scheer tweeted her win “shows just how far we’ve come since Billy Crystal performed in Blackface.”
I didn’t find it offensive at all. Go figure.
It’s not blackface. He’s in full makeup. He didn’t just take some black shoe polish and add red lipstick for effect. Know your history.