Academy Award nominee Fernanda Torres is apologizing after a 17-year-old clip of her in blackface recently resurfaced.
The star of “I’m Still Here” issued a lengthy apology to Deadline on Sunday, following backlash over a 2008 sketch she appeared in on the long-running Brazilian television show “Fantastico.”
Torres, who is up for the lead actress Oscar at this year’s ceremony, wrote, “Almost twenty years ago, I appeared in blackface in a comedy sketch from a Brazilian TV show.”
“I am very sorry for this. I’m making this statement as it is important for me to address this swiftly to avoid further pain and confusion,” her statement said.
Torres plays two characters in the recently resurfaced “Fantastico” episode, appearing as both a white working mother and in blackface as the family’s maid, Dalva. The sketch, titled “The Opposite Sex: The Family (Father vs. Mother),” was meant to be a humorous examination of gender roles.
In her apology, the Golden Globe winner claimed that Brazilian culture had yet to reckon with the racist history of blackface at the time the sketch aired.
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“At that time, despite the efforts of Black movements and organizations, the awareness of the racist history and symbolism of blackface hadn’t yet entered the mainstream public consciousness in Brazil. Thanks to better cultural understanding and important but incomplete achievements in this century, it’s very clear now in our country and everywhere that blackface is never acceptable.
“This is an important conversation we must continue to have with one another in order to prevent the normalization of racist practices then and now,” Torres’ statement says. “As an artist and global citizen, and from my open heart, I remain attentive and committed to the pursuit of vital changes needed to live in a world free from inequality and racism.”
Last week, Torres made Academy Awards history as the second Brazilian woman to ever earn a lead actress nomination. The first Brazilian nominated for the lead actress Oscar was her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, for her role in 1988′s “Central Station.”