By Clayton Gutzmore, Word In Black
Online comedian Druski has everyone talking again.
Following up on videos skewering megachurch culture and MAGA political conservatives — a skit in which he not only dressed in drag but donned whiteface makeup — Druski took on another hot-button issue. This time, he’s roasting Black British actors who take on roles portraying Black Americans.
Think Chiwetel Ejiofor, nominated for an Oscar in the starring role of “12 Years A Slave.” Or Idris Elba — the O.G. of Black Brits playing Black Americans — as iconic gangster Stringer Bell from “The Wire.” Both Ejiofor and Elba were born and raised in London to parents of African descent.
Druski takes not-so-subtle swings at both of them in his video, speaking in Black vernacular when the fictional movie cameras are rolling, then lapsing into an exaggerated British accent between takes.
‘Yet to Tell a Lie’
The video, released last week, struck a nerve. It already has 45 million views and 75,000 shares on X, and counting. Even Damson Idris — a Black Brit who starred in “Snowfall,” a gritty TV series set in the ‘hoods of Los Angeles — weighed in.
“You ain’t s–t,” he wrote to the comedian, followed by several laughing emojis.
The outrageous joke landed because it touched a real debate simmering for years in Black moviegoers and entertainment circles: Why are so many Black Brits starring in Black American stories?
Jon Boyega fights the evil Empire in “Star Wars.” Daniel Kaluuya kills white body snatchers in “Get Out.” Cynthia Erivo leads the enslaved to freedom as the star of “Harriet Tubman.” The conversation has gone on for years, and gets particularly heated when British stars win critical acclaim for roles rooted in Black American history and culture.
“Druski might tell you a joke, but his skits have yet to tell a lie,” one Threads user posted.
Who’s Telling Our Stories
The comedian’s video opens in a cotton field, with Druski, dressed as an enslaved man, plotting with his enslaved wife about the best time to flee the plantation. When the woman bolts, the overseer closes in on Druski, who’s yelling and struggling. A director suddenly appears, yells “Cut!” and Druski — portraying actor Sampson Dubois — immediately slips into an exaggerated British accent as the two discuss the scene.
Then, the video shifts to an interview about Dubois’ role in the fictional slave movie, “Release the Shackles.”
“This role is sorta a bit cheeky. I got out of my comfort zone,” Druski-as-Dubois says in a thrift-store Cockney accent. “During the filming of this role and this character, I felt oppressed, like an American slave.”
The joke escalates from there: Dubois walks the red carpet at the fictional American Guild Awards and quips about how difficult it is to drop the American accent between roles; then he’s in a scene from a crime drama, cursing and dropping n-bombs as a stereotypical gangster wearing a bandanna and sleeveless undershirt.
Seriously Not Serious
The video ends with a fake TMZ-style paparazzi encounter between Dubois — a white woman on his arm — and a reporter, who asks if being British helps him land juicy roles playing Black Americans.
“Come on, bruv — are you serious, bruv?” Dubois replies. Then he knocks the phone camera away.
While fans dapped him up for on-target satire — “Druski is everything we need in social commentary right now,” one Threads user gushed — others were less impressed. One called the sketch an insult to Black American actors, while another said Druski should have taken aim at the real villain: decision-makers in the entertainment industry, who cast Black Brits over Black Yanks.
“It’s funny but sad at the same time Druski is exposing how Hollywood is replacing Black American actors with Black British actors,” wrote one TikTok user.
This editorial was originally published in Word In Black.
Photo by cottonbro CG studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-illustration-of-a-hand-doing-thumbs-down-8831807/
