David Byrne has taken to Twitter to apologise for wearing black and brownface in a promotional video for Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense.
In the promotional skit for the video, David Byrne interviews himself while dressed in costume as various characters, some of whom were people of colour.
“Recently a journalist pointed out something I did in a promo video skit in 1984 for the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense,” he tweeted. “In the piece I appear as a number of different characters interviewing myself, and some of the characters portrayed are people of color.”
“To watch myself in the various characters, including Black- and brownface, I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgment that showed a lack of real understanding,” he wrote. “It’s like looking in a mirror and seeing someone else – you’re not, or were not, the person you thought you were.”
He continued, “We have huge blind spots about ourselves- well, I certainly do. I’d like to think I am beyond making mistakes like this, but clearly at the time I was not.”
Byrne concluded, “One hopes that folks have the grace and understanding to allow that someone like me, anyone really, can grow and change, and that the past can be examined with honesty and accountability.”
Later this month, a Spike Lee-directed TV adaptation of American Utopia, David Byre’s musical, will premiere at the virtual Toronto Film Festival. It will also make its way to HBO in October.
Check out the official trailer for Stop Making Sense:
