Rage in controversy after white celebrity blacks out and says the N-word while performing a Kendrick Lamar hit on a Polish karaoke TV show… and wins the top prize
Rage in controversy after white celebrity blacks out and says the N-word while performing a Kendrick Lamar hit on a Polish karaoke TV show… and wins the top prize
- Kuba Szmajkowski won the TV show Your Face Sounds Familiar with his performance
A Polish TV show has sparked outrage after celebrity contestants appeared in blackface as Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar.
On the singing competition show “Your Face Sounds Familiar,” singer Kuba Szmajkowski appeared as one of eight celebrities who performed karaoke versions of popular songs while attempting to imitate the original artist’s style.
To the delight of the jury, who praised the 21-year-old’s performance as “amazing,” “brilliant” and “a big WOW,” Szmajkowski donated the prize money to a children’s cancer organization after winning the completion.
Polish actress Pola Gonciarz also appeared as “black” Beyoncé and sang “If I Were a Boy.” Clips of both performances have since gone viral, with viewers branding them “disgusting”.
A viewer complained about Szmajkowski’s performance and said: “Why did they make him say the word ‘n****’ even though they knew it was a very racist term?” (…) Very unpleasant on the part of the producers and of the performer.
“As a dark-skinned person, I am outraged by this performance!”
Kuba Szmajkowski and backup dancers perform on the singing competition show Your Face Sounds Familiar
White Polish star Szmajkowski in a picture from his social media at Tower Bridge in London
The singer posted the behind-the-scenes makeup process before his performance
Another outraged viewer wrote: “You can appreciate the culture or the art without being offensive or doing blackface.”
Another commented: “This is really disgusting,” while another posted: “Kendrick needs to file the worst copyright lawsuit ever.”
Polish actress Pola Gonciarz was also heavily criticized on social media after posting clips on Instagram.
One follower said: “This is so incredibly misguided and ignorant.” Blackface should never, ever be done anywhere. “We shouldn’t wear people’s skin color like costumes.”
Another complained: “Shocking that this type of racism was allowed on TV in 2023,” while an outraged fan said: “What are you doing?????” You can’t blacken your skin to represent yourself as an African American to spend! This is so ignorant!!!’
After winning completion, Szmajkowski donated the prize money to a children’s cancer organization
Kuba Szmajkowski appeared as one of eight celebrities who performed karaoke versions of popular songs, attempting to imitate the original artist’s style
In a 2021 episode, actor Tomasz Ciachorowski also performed blackface to cover Kanye West’s “Stronger.”
After the N-word was edited out, the TV show responded by saying, “Dear viewers, we are very surprised at the number of negative comments about this.” [sic] TV show Your Face Sounds Familiar.
“The Polish edition of the show, considered exemplary abroad, always strives to show great performances that are as close to the original as possible.” Incredibly important for us, but also for the artists taking part in the show , is the charity aspect of the program.
It added: “The intention of every single star who appears in the show, as well as the entire production team, is to recreate the original performance in the most accurate way possible while honoring the original artist.”
Now a video has resurfaced of an appearance on the same 2021 show by Polish actor Tomasz Ciachorowski, who did blackface to cover Kanye West’s “Stronger.”