Sarah Silverman Admits Blackface Scene Got Her Fired From Movie
Sarah Silverman is known for her edgy, out-there comedy, but in one instance, she crossed the line — and got fired for it.
The comedian/actress confirmed on an episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast” that she was recently fired off a movie for appearing in blackface in an episode of her Comedy Central series, "The Sarah Silverman Program."
The show ran for three seasons between 2007 and 2010. Silverman donned blackface in the third episode of Season 2, titled "Face Wars." In the scene, Silverman puts on the blackface in order to prove that being Jewish is harder than being black.
And though that episode aired years ago, it came back to bite her.
"I recently was going to do a movie, a sweet part, then at 11 p.m. the night before, they fired me because they saw a picture of me in blackface from that episode," she admitted. "I didn't fight it."
Though Silverman understood the decision, she added, "It was so disheartening. It just made me real real sad, because I really kind of devoted my life to making it right."
She also discussed "canceled culture" with Simmons and how it has led to comedy becoming a "dangerous place" for comedians who have made mistakes in the past.
"It's like, if you're not on board, if you say the wrong thing, if you had a tweet once ... everyone is, like, throwing the first stone," Silverman noted.
She also admitted to remaining friends with Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari, who both fell out of favor after allegations of sexual misconduct.
"It's OK to go, 'Wow, look at this back then. That was so f---ed up looking at it in the light of today of what we know,' but to hold that person accountable if they've changed with the times, like for me .. I held myself accountable," Silverman explained.
"I can't erase that I did that, but I can only be changed forever and do what I can to make it right for the rest of my life,"