The BBC Two programme Tonight With Vladimir Putin uses performance capture technology to turn comedians into 3D digital characters. In the two episodes set to air Sunday evening, the Duchess of Cambridge gets a special segment: ‘Meghan Markle’s Royal Sparkle’. The Duchess of Sussex character is depicted as a ‘trailer trash’ American who threatens to stab the Duchess of Cambridge. Producers also poke fun at her relationship with her father, as well as her marriage.
The Duchess is voiced by Gbemisola Ikunelo, who said she had conceived the character as the opposite of how the Duchess really behaves. Ikunelo explained that “if a character I chose to play happens to be angry in a moment, I’m okay with it. Because black people and people of colour are entitled to the whole spectrum of emotions being human demands. So I’m done censoring legit choices and feelings because someone might misinterpret me as an angry black woman. That trope belongs to the media, not to black women.”
Despite BBC spokesperson’s view that viewers would of course be able to “recognise this performance as a spoof and highly satirical”, given the context of a programme which makes fun of “a wide range of public figures and the public’s perception of them”.
Nevertheless, some social media users voiced outrage. Some users lamented that the Duchess character was simply too foul-mouthed (very much unlike her real-life counterpart).
They also charged the show with racism and stressed that the 3D digital character appears to be several skin tones darker than the actual Duchess, and features exaggeratedly big lips.
One person tweeted: “Bloody hell @bbccomedy what are you doing!? I’m not a @RoyalFamily fan but this is #Disgraceful, #disgusting and #racist”
Another added: “This genuinely might be the worst thing the BBC has ever put on TV.
