Justin Trudeau was dropped from the lineup of a US late night show after a photo and videos of him wearing blackface emerged online.
The Canadian prime minister was set to appear on YouTube star Lilly Singh’s new show, but NBC confirmed that his scheduled video appearance was cancelled in the wake of the controversy.
NBC added it has no plans to invite him back on the show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, which is the first to be presented by a woman of colour.
Trudeau participated in a pre-recorded “comedy clip” and wished the Indian-Canadian star “good luck” on Twitter ahead of the first episode that was filmed on Monday.
However, on Wednesday, TIME Magazine published a photo of Trudeau wearing make-up to darken his skin at an Arabian Nights themed party in 2001. He was 29 at the time.
After a spokesperson for the Canadian prime minister’s Liberal Party confirmed the validity of the photo, Trudeau apologised, telling reporters: “I’m p***** off at myself, I’m disappointed in myself.”
Since then, though, two more videos have been released showing Trudeau wearing blackface on what seems to be separate occasions. He refused to say how many times he used make-up to darken his skin.
Trudeau, who launched his re-election campaign just a week ago, added: ”I deeply regret that I did that. I should have known better but I didn’t.”
