Golden Girls Episode With Blackface Removed From Hulu

A Golden Girls episode with blackface has been removed from Hulu. The episode in question, Season 3’s “Mixed Feelings,” centers around the possible marriage of Dorothy’s son Michael and a Black woman named Lorraine. They’re pretty far apart in age and neither family agrees with the marriage in the plot. Well, both sides conspire to sabotage the ceremony. The trouble reaches a fever pitch when Blanche and Rose both come into the living room after trying out a mud facial treatment. They are very quick to say, “This is mud on our faces, we’re not really Black.” So, the entire scene is pretty ghastly and has been pulled from the streaming platform. Over the past few days, Hulu has been busy pulling episodes off the platform due to scenes with blackface in them.

Friday saw Greg Daniels, the creator of The Office, talk about a similar scene being pulled from streaming. “Dwight Christmas” got taken off the set of Hulu and Daniels delivered a statement to The Wrap when asked about it.

“The Office is about a group of people trying to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager,” Daniels said. “The show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion. Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.”

The moves to make changes on these streaming platforms don’t end there. Multiple episodes of 30 Rock, Scrubs, and Community have also been pulled or edited due to these moments. As with most issues, there are fans who are on the opposite side of the decision, but the vast majority of the viewing audience understands the choice. Last week also saw genuine fervor about the choice to remove Gone With the Wind from HBO Max. Now, the movie is live on the platform with an added disclaimer before the feature begins.

“It was sort of a no-brainer, I mean, we have the best of intentions obviously,” WarnerMedia Chairman Bob Greenblatt said. “We failed to put the disclaimer in there, which sets up the issue, basically, the issues that this movie really brings up… So, we took it off and we’re going to bring it back with a proper context, and it’s what we should have done. So, I don’t regret taking it down for a second. I only wish we had put it up in the first place with the disclaimer. And we just didn’t do that.”

Had you ever seen that episode of Golden Girls? Let us know in the comments!