First-time Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres is issuing an apology after a sketch that found her in blackface nearly two decades ago recently resurfaced.
The 59-year-old Brazilian actress, who shocked awards prognosticators when she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress last week for her performance in I'm Still Here, made the offensive display when she appeared in a segment on the Brazilian TV program Fantástico 17 years earlier.
Torres starred as multiple characters in the sketch, including one she portrayed using blackface.
“Almost twenty years ago, I appeared in blackface in a comedy skit on a Brazilian TV show,” Torres said in a statement to Deadline on Sunday. 'I'm very sorry about this. I am making this statement because it is important for me to address this quickly to avoid further pain and confusion'
“At that time, despite the efforts of black movements and organizations, awareness of the racist history and symbolism of blackface had not yet entered the mainstream public consciousness in Brazil,” said Torres, who became the first Brazilian to win the Golden Globe won the Golden Globe who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
“Thanks to better cultural understanding and important but incomplete achievements in this century, it is now very clear in our country and everywhere that blackface is never acceptable,” she continued.
First-time Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres, 59, apologized for wearing blackface 17 years ago in a sketch on Brazilian television in a statement to Deadline on Sunday
Torres plays several characters in Fantástico's sketch, including a housekeeper for which she used blackface
Torres became the first Brazilian, Latin American and Portuguese speaking actor nominated for the best actress Oscar last week after starring in the critically acclaimed film I'm Still Here (pictured)
“This is an important conversation that we must continue to have with each other to prevent the normalization of racist practices then and now,” Torres concluded. “As an artist and global citizen, and from my open heart, I remain thoughtful and committed to pursuing vital changes necessary to live in a world without inequality and racism.”
Torres broke several other barriers with her Golden Globe win, which was the first in that category for a Latin American and Portuguese-speaking actor.
She is also in rare company after earning her Oscar nomination, as only one other Brazilian actress has been nominated before — her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, 95, for the 1998 film Central Station.
Torres's blackface display show, Fantástico, still airs weekly on Sunday evenings.
It originated in 1973 as a black-and-white variety series featuring a mix of musical performances, dance numbers, dramatic scenes and comedy sketches, along with news broadcasts.
After 15 years, the show transitioned from a pre-release affair to a live broadcast, and in 1993 it was reimagined as a TV newspaper magazine, but it continues to feature entertainment segments.
Torres' offensive sketch was reportedly titled The Opposite Sex: The Family (Father vs. Mother), and it featured her and a male actor.
According to Deadline, Torres and her costar both spoke directly to the camera as multiple characters, while the sketch humorously interpreted whether mothers or fathers were more important to families.
Torres played an overworked mother who wanted a housekeeper to help her cope. As a housekeeper, she acted in an exaggerated manner and cracked a whip
Torres told Deadline that she was “deeply sorry” and said: “At that time, despite the efforts of black movements and organizations, awareness of the racist history and symbolism of Blackface had not yet entered the mainstream public consciousness in Brazil”; seen January 5
In one scene, Torres' Solange reportedly says she wants to divorce after detailing her busy daily routine, but her husband Luis Carlos claims she's just exhausted, so he suggests they get a housekeeper to lighten her load.
Torres also played the housekeeper while wearing a heavy layer of dark makeup over her visible skin.
According to Deadline, the housekeeper says she has the same problems as the mother – she also has children, a house to clean and a husband to 'satisfy' – so she can't help her.
But then Solange decides to divorce her husband and gives half of everything she has to the housekeeper, which seems to improve her life dramatically.
“I became the man of the house,” she says.
A clip from the episode circulating online appears to show Torres acting in an offensively exaggerated manner when playing the housekeeper in blackface.
The housekeeper also appeared to be wearing padding over her stomach, although it was not clear whether that was mean to make her pregnant, or just heavier.
She complains about Solange's ex-husband visiting her house every weekend and loudly cracks a whip before throwing a bag of burgers at him.
“Thanks to better cultural understanding and important but incomplete achievements in this century, it is now very clear in our country and everywhere that blackface is never acceptable,” she continued
Torres stars in I'm Still Here as the real-life wife of a politician who was kidnapped and murdered by Brazil's former military dictatorship in 1971; Still from I'm still here
She was a surprise Golden Globe winner and she is now only the second Brazilian nominee for best lead actress at the Oscars – after her mother was nominated for the same award for 1998's Central Station, which was directed by the same filmmaker
Several posters complained about Torres' blackface performance, comparing it to an editorial she wrote that was critical of Amber heard amid her legal battle against ex-husband Johnny Depp
Some also reminded their followers that Zoe Saldaña – who is nominated for best supporting actress at the Oscars – had also worn blackface for the 2016 film Nina, in which she darkened her skin to play the singer Nina Simone
A user, who appeared to have an account dedicated to posting Torres' blackface scandal, highlighted the snubbed hard truths Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Some users noted that some of the account most vociferously criticized appeared to be so-called Stan accounts that obsessively follow and promote other stars, so there may have been criticism to help other nominees' Oscar chances
'My problem now is that Dr. Luis Carlos spends every weekend in this house and leaves everything in a mess! Hey, Dr. Luiz Carlos, go to hell! Here's your burger! The housekeeper says according to deadline.
“Damn, Dalva, don't you know I hate ketchup and pickles? Are you kidding me,” the husband replies at the end of the clip.
On X (formerly Twitter), users were largely critical of Torres and the use of blackface in the sketch.
Several posters complained about Torres' blackface performance, comparing it to an editorial she wrote that was critical of Amber heard amid her legal battle against ex-husband Johnny Depp
One user, who appeared to have an account dedicated to posting Torres' blackface scandal, highlighted the snarled harsh truths Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
Some also reminded their followers that Zoe Saldaña – who is nominated for best supporting actress at the Oscars – had also worn blackface for the 2016 film Nina, in which she darkened her skin to play the singer Nina Simone.
While Torres seemed to have few full-throated defenders, some users noted that some of the account that was most vociferously critical seemed to be so-called Stan accounts that obsessively follow and promote other stars, so some criticism may be intended to to help the Oscar chances of other nominees.
Torres' Film I'm Here Here – directed by acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, who also directed the film that earned her mother an Oscar nomination – is based on the struggle of Eunice Paiva, the wife of Brazilian politician Rubens Paiva, who was tortured by Brazil's former military dictatorship and murdered by the regime in 1971.
After investigating her husband's kidnapping in a military raid, she was arrested and tortured for almost two weeks before being released.
She later graduated from law school and spent the rest of her life advocating for both human and indigenous rights.
