David Baddiel has revealed that, in his new documentary Jews Don’t Count, he apologises to former footballer Jason Lee for impersonating him in blackface in the Nineties.
Baddiel and fellow comic Frank Skinner once had a BBC show called Fantasy Football League, in which they ridiculed footballers.
Much of their mockery was directed at Lee, the Black Nottingham Forest player. Baddiel would portray Lee as dim-witted, with a pineapple on top of his head to imitate Lee’s hairstyle. Skinner would put on a strong Northern accent to portray Lee’s then-manager, Frank Clark.
At one point, Baddiel wore blackface when depicting Lee.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (17 November), Baddiel said: “I shamefully impersonated Jason Lee in blackface 25 years ago on Fantasy Football, and I felt that it was important, if I’m going to do a documentary about Jewish representation and minorities, that I should go and meet Jason and apologise and talk to him.”
He added: “At the end of the conversation, he talked passionately about how he’d like to stand up for Jews and fight antisemitism in football.”
Baddiel’s documentary sees him argue that antisemitism isn’t considered as unacceptable as other forms of discrimination, even by people who support other minority groups. It features contributions from David Schwimmer, Stephen Fry, Sarah Silverman, Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, Miriam Margolyes, Howard Jacobson and Rachel Riley.
Baddiel has issued a number of apologies on social media, but, in 2020, Lee called out the pair for never apologising to him personally.
“I never received an apology from Baddiel and Skinner,” he said, adding: “It’s never too late. I think that would be good for maybe my children to hear that, and it would show them that in today’s day and age people maybe are more remorseful, and people are having to look at how they act.”
Jews Don’t Count airs on Channel 4 on Monday 21 November.
