Craig David has slammed comedian Leigh Francis and accused him of ‘normalising bullying’ with his ‘racist’ impression of him on Bo’ Selecta!.
Francis – also known as Keith Lemon – wrote and performed on sketch show Bo’ Selecta!, which ran from 2002 to 2009. It saw the comedian mock celebrities including David, Trisha Goddard, David Blaine, Kelly Osbourne, and Michael Jackson.
In 2020, Francis apologised for his depictions, but David has now branded his words ‘insincere’.
‘People would shout at me on the street and I felt the same feeling I had when I was bullied at school. Leigh Francis had normalised bullying by making it comedy,’ David said, adding: ‘When he put blackface on, that was being racist.’
David added to The Times of Francis’ apology in 2020: ‘We can all apologise when on the back foot. The moment of expressing his apology seemed very coincidentally timed.
‘Has he reached out to any of the people he did on his show? He hasn’t reached out to me. Has he gone to communities to talk about bullying? Racism? And to be educated? You can only ask him.’
He went on to say that the caricature ‘sent him to a dark place’ and affected his mental health and that, while he doesn’t want to take anything away from Francis, he does want him to be held accountable for his actions.
Following the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent increase of discussion surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, Goddard accused Bo’ Selecta! of perpetuating black stereotypes and claimed her children were bulled in school over the portrayal of their mum.
Francis said in a video at the time: ‘Back in 2002, I did a show called Bo’ Selecta!, I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn’t think anything about it, people didn’t say anything – I’m not going to blame other people.
‘I’ve been talking to some people. I didn’t realise how offensive it was back then.
‘I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I’m a big fan of. I guess we’re all on a learning journey.’
He wrote alongside the video: ‘Following recent events, I’ve done a lot of talking and learning and I would like to put this out there.
‘I want to apologise to anyone that was offended by Bo’selecta. I’m on a constant journey of knowledge and just wanted to say I’m deeply sorry. #blacklivesmatter’.
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Leigh Francis for comment.
MORE : Lorraine Kelly: ‘I was disgusted by really horrible Bo Selecta sketch and should have complained
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