Rebel Wilson says 'Little Britain' removal is 'crazy' as she defends friend Matt Lucas
Rebel Wilson has defended her friend Matt Lucas after Little Britain was pulled from multiple streaming services last week in the wake of global anti-racism protests.
The BBC comedy has received criticism over the years for Lucas and David Walliams' use of blackface and stereotypes but was pulled from iPlayer, BritBox and Netflix last week with the BBC stating that "times had changed" since it first aired.
Wilson, who lived with the comedian in LA for three years, was interviewed by Australia's Studio 10 where she discussed what should happen to material now deemed "not acceptable".
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"I'm not a fan of just erasing things," the Cats actor said. "I think with history, you should learn from it. If you erase it, it's a bit like denying it ever happened. That doesn't seem like a good plan."
She went on: "Matt Lucas' show Little Britain got pulled, which I just think is a bit crazy. They obviously played many different characters on that show."
Lucas and Walliams issued an almost identical apology on Saturday evening where they highlighted that they had previously expressed regret over performing in black and brown face.
A tweet posted by Lucas read: "David and I have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races.
“Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong and we are very sorry."
It comes as other TV shows have been taken down from on demand services, including The League of Gentlemen which was also removed from Netflix last week.
The comedy series contained the character ‘Papa Lazarou’ who was depicted by actor Reece Shearsmith wearing a painted black face. However, a reason for its removal was not given by the streaming site.