David Walliams, a British comedian and children’s book author, is under fire for dressing up for Halloween as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Mr. Walliams waded into the controversy when he tweeted a selfie showing him dressed in a black suit, wearing a black wig and appearing to also wearing a prosthetic to alter the appearances of his eyelids, The Independent newspaper explained Wednesday.
“Happy Halloween from Kim Jong-un,” reads the tweet, sent at 10:17 London time Tuesday.
The Independent noted there was significant push back from followers, many criticizing Mr. Walliams as a racist who was mocking Asians by appearing in “yellow face,” although it’s unclear from the four photos he posted over the course of Halloween evening whether he used skin-darkening makeup.
But not everyone is blasting Mr. Walliams, with many followers complaining about political correctness or noting that, if anything, the costume was to mock Kim Jong-un, not Koreans or Asians generally.
“[A]ll these folks upset about offending a murderous dictator, have a word with yourself,” tweeted @BreakingBott.
“No racism here. People are far too up their own arses,” tweeted Kayode Modupe-Ojo, a self-described luxury entrepreneur from the United Kingdom.
“Even as a black man I see nothing wrong with the outfit, I am sure kim jong-un would be happy seeing a Brit dressing up like him, he would laugh and fall off his chair,” tweeted a Nigerian man by the Twitter handle @sugabajoseph, adding, “people are getting too serious these days, we don’t need that.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.