Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National

Row breaks out on London Tube train over passenger's 'blackface' Pulp Fiction costume for Halloween

A row broke out on a Tube train over this passenger's 'Blackface' costume

A row broke out on a London Tube train after a passenger travelled to a party wearing ‘Blackface’ as part of his Halloween costume.

Footage shows the man looking perplexed as fellow passengers confront him over his costume, before responding: “Why not?”

He appears to be imitating Samuel L Jackson’s character Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, by wearing a black afro wig, suit and black face paint.

The video, which has been shared thousands of times on social media, shows a woman telling the passenger: “It’s a bit racist that you put black make-up on.”

But the man, who was sitting on the Central line train with a female companion appears to shrug and deny any problem with his costume.

He can be heard saying in the footage: "He's a person I like, why not?"

Many people took to Twitter to accuse him of racism, amid a growing backlash against blackface costumes in recent years.

Blackface has historically been used by white performers to portray derogatory caricatures of black people, helping to spread racist stereotypes.

One person responded on Twitter: “His shrug of the shoulders and utter nonchalance with the woman next to him looking bemused is probably the most scary thing about this video.”

But others defended him and accused people of being “over sensitive”, sparking a war of words on social media.

Megyn Kelly was ousted by NBC after making controversial remarks about Blackface (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

It comes days after US news presenter Megyn Kelly was ousted from her NBC programme after making controversial on-air comments about blackface.

The host, 47, provoked a firestorm of criticism for asking why dressing up in blackface for a Halloween costume is wrong. She said that when she was a child dressing up in blackface was okay as long as you were impersonating a character.

In an email later apologising to colleagues, Kelly said that she had never been a "PC" person but understands “we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age”.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.