TV presenting duo Ant and Dec say sorry for blackface appearances on Saturday Night Takeaway

ANT and Dec have issued an apology for appearing in blackface on past episodes of their show Saturday Night Takeaway.

The multi award-winning TV presenting duo issued an apology on Twitter on Wednesday pointing out that they had “impersonated people of colour” in a segment of the show.

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— antanddec (@antanddec) June 10, 2020

“We realise that this was wrong and want to say that we are sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended,” they stated.

The celebrity pair made it clear they had stopped doing the impersonations with blackface some years back “and certainly would not make these sketches today.”

They also stressed they have asked ITV to ensure that the segments “and any other historical content that could cause offence,” have been removed from the ITV hub and the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel.

Ant and Dec’s apology comes in the atmosphere of the Black Live Matter anti-racism protests in countries around the world, sparked off by the death of the unarmed black man George Floyd in the US after a police officer knelt on his neck.

Also this week the BBC cut Little Britain from UK streaming platforms due to the use of blackface in some of the sketches, while HBO Max removed classic film Gone with the Wind from the US streaming service for its depiction of slavery.