Rory Bremner defends impressions of black celebrities

ory Bremner has defended his impressions of Ainsley Harriott and Sir Trevor McDonald.

The 59-year-old comedian has responded to backlash over his takes on the TV chef and broadcaster respectively, but he dismissed the idea he was being racist by wearing blackface for certain roles in the past.

Speaking on the \'Making An Impression\' podcast, he said: "It wasn\'t sending up Trevor as a black man so I could have a laugh at his race, or Aisnley Harriott.

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"A couple of little things have started to turn up on Twitter. They\'re saying, \'Oooh, when are they gonna ask Rory about his Ainsley impression? Are they gonna ask Rory about his Trevor McDonald impression?\'

"I\'m thinking, \'Well, I treated them with the same respect or lack of respect as all the other characters\'.

"We\'re not talking \'The Black & White Minstrel Show\' here, we\'re talking about a show which has high and quite expensive makeup and production values and it\'s about looking like the character."

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His comments come after shows like \'Little Britain\' and \'League of Gentlemen\' have been removed from streaming platforms because of blackface.

And last month, Leigh Francis apologised for portraying black celebrities such as Craig David and Trisha Goddard on \'Bo\' Selecta\'.

He said: "Back in 2002, I did a show called \'Bo\' Selecta\'. I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn\'t think anything about it, people didn\'t say anything, I\'m not going to blame other people.

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"I\'ve been talking to some people, I didn\'t realise how offensive it was back then.

"I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused, whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I\'m a big fan of. I guess we\'re all on a learning journey."