[Livia]

Originally Posted by Joseph the Carpenter

The 68-year-old plays a male Japanese fashion designer called Huki Muki in the forthcoming Ab Fab movie, set for release next summer, which has caused a number of fans to call the casting choice ‘racist’.

Influential Korean American actress Margaret Cho, who appeared in the film Face/Off with John Travolta as well as television shows including Sex And The City, accused the film of ‘yellowface’, which she describes as ‘when white people portray Asian people. And unfortunately it’s happening in this film.’

‘I am ********** sick of yellowface. Have some respect. Hire Asian actors for Asian roles,’ Cho fumes online. ‘I’m disgusted. Yellowface is racism. Sorry. It’s unacceptable. Not now. I was thrilled about [the] Ab Fab movie, but now I just can’t be. I’m very disappointed.’

She added: ‘When roles written for us are played by white actors — it’s an outrage. We’ve tried to shame racism out of existence but I guess some people really don’t care. They’re shameless but NOT BLAMELESS.’

Panto season is going to upset a few people then. I don't think we've got enough Asian actors for all the productions of Aladdin that'll be opening any time now.

I saw Shakespeare's Henry V, clearly a white man, starring a black actor as the king and it was the best production of Henry V I've ever seen. Edris Elba is being suggested as the next James Bond, again, clearly a white man if you've read the books. If a white man played Othello, and many have, is that racist too? How many actors have played Shylock or Fagin who aren't actually Jewish? Who cares? No one...

Racism is about intent not about making people walk on eggshells over something that's obviously not meant to be an insult.