'Wish I Was Here' Actor Zach Braff Apologizes for Saying Pharrell Williams Looked Like a Monkey
On Sunday night, "Scrubs" actor Zach Braff live tweeted during the Grammy awards and sparked controversy when he shared his opinion of rapper/singer Pharrell Williams' Grammys performance outfit.
Williams performed his popular song "Happy" at the Grammys this year and wore what appeared to be a bell hop costume. Many poked fun at Pharrell's unique outfit and compared him to the lobby boy in Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel" film.
However, Braff took his joke a step further and posted a side by side photo of Pharrell's outfit and the monkey he played in "Oz the Great and Powerful," Us Weekly reports. Braff's tweet, which has since been deleted, sparked outrage from social media users and Grammy viewers who called the actor racist.
"Comparing African-Americans to monkeys is one of the most offensive racial slurs imaginable," Yahoo! Music's Billy Johnson Jr. said.
Following the backlash, Braff tweeted another photo of his African-American "Scrubs" co-star Donald Faison, who he claimed was watching the Grammys with him. Salon suggests that Braff's tweet might have been his initial way of denying statements that he is racist.
Braff issued an apology to Williams via Twitter on Monday.
Check out Braff's tweet below.
Although Williams' performance was the butt of many jokes during the Grammys, Williams' performance was actually meant to relay a serious message about race in America. During his performance, Williams had dancers appear onstage in black hoodies with raised hands to emulate the hands-up-don't-shoot pose in honor of Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin.
Salon also claims that Williams' bell hop costume was meant to bring awareness to the long history of the racist minstrel bell hop characters in early Americana.
So far, Williams has yet to respond to Braff's apology.
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