Sarah Silverman was let go from a movie over a 2007 blackface sketch

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Many celebrities have come under fire in recent years over past comments and/or work, some even losing jobs as a result. Comedian and actress Sarah Silverman is the most recent star to face such backlash, and she revealed on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” that she recently lost a job on a movie over a 2007 sketch on her Comedy Central show, THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM, in which she wore blackface during the episode.   

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“I recently was going to do a movie, a sweet part, then at 11 pm the night before they fired me because they saw a picture of me in blackface from that episode,” Silverman told Simmons (via IndieWire). “I didn’t fight it. They hired someone else who is wonderful but who has never stuck their neck out. It was so disheartening. It just made me real, real sad, because I really kind of devoted my life to making it right.”

In the season two episode titled “Face Wars,” Silverman’s character wore blackface as a means to prove that being Jewish was harder than being black. While speaking with GQ in May 2018 she condemned the episode, saying she’s “horrified,” by it. “Comedy by nature is not at all evergreen. So if you're doing it right, you look back at your old stuff and you're horrified,” she said. “I don't stand by the blackface sketch. I'm horrified by it, and I can't erase it. I can only be changed by it and move on.”

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Continuing with Simmons, they discussed further the nature of what has been dubbed “cancel culture,” in which certain celebrities have been called out for past comments, often done on social media. Notable examples include Kevin Hart, who stepped away from hosting this year’s Oscars after past homophobic jokes resurfaced, and James Gunn, who was let go from directing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 after inappropriate jokes also came to light on Twitter (although he was eventually brought back on the movie by Disney).

"I think it's really scary and it's a very odd thing that it's invaded the left primarily and the right will mimic it," Silverman said. "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. It's so odd. It's a perversion … It's really, 'Look how righteous I am and now I'm going to press refresh all day long to see how many likes I get in my righteousness.'"

Silverman didn't reveal which movie she was let go from, but after lending her voice to last year's RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET she had the movie MARRY ME on the docket, co-starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. Per the IMDb page, the movie is about "A pop superstar is jilted by her rock-star fiancé moments before their wedding at Madison Square Garden, so she marries a random guy from the crowd instead." As of now, the page lists her as still being attached.