Makeup and an afro wig. The channel TF1 is accused of having resorted to "blackface", a practice often considered discriminating, to make anonymous a witness as part of his program "Sept à Huit", Sunday evening.
This 16-year-old girl was invited to testify about her past as a prostitute on the occasion of the release of her book, "Papa, come and get me" (208 pages, ed. L'Observatoire), co-written with her father. She asked to preserve her anonymity.
The chain, which says that the portraits of the show are always done with their faces uncovered, have chosen to make up the teenager and make her pass for a young black woman, wig in support.
"In no case [...] a denigration"
As soon as the report was broadcast, Internet users quickly denounced this subterfuge assimilated to the "blackface", perceived as the perpetuation of a pejorative and humiliating vision of people of color.
Contacted by the Huffington Post, the chain assumes a "grimage". "The priority was to preserve the anonymity of the witness," said one. This make-up does not in any case lead to a denigration. It was all done in the interest of the person. Elephant Prod, the company that produced this issue of "Seven to Eight", did not want to react immediately.