Scrubs creator felt show had a 'free pass' to use blackface due to diverse cast and crew

Three episodes containing blackface were removed from Hulu last week

Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence has admitted that he felt the show had a “free pass” to use blackface because their cast and crew were so “diverse”.

Last week, three episodes of the hospital sitcom were removed from streaming service Hulu at the showrunner’s request due to their use of blackface.

In response, Lawrence and actor Sarah Chalke appeared on the Fake Doctors, Real Friends to discuss the scenes with presenters and Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison.

Speaking about fans who blamed Chalke and Braff for appearing on the show in blackface, Lawrence said: “Everybody should know that the reason the word showrunner exists in television is that you’re the gatekeeper, and anything that gets allowed on a show you have to ultimately take responsibility for.”

“We almost thought that we had, in a bad way, a ‘free pass’ to not have those thoughts. Because we were so proud of ourselves for doing a very diverse show, in front and behind the camera.”

Speaking about the scenes, Braff added: “At the time I delineated in my mind between the traditional blackface... when we were doing this I never equated it. I was like, ‘Oh it’s a fantasy where I’m trying to be my best friend.’”

Of the three episodes removed from Hulu, one featured Braff’s character JD in blackface at a party, while another showed Chalke’s Elliott wear it during a fantasy sequence.

Scrubs ran for nine seasons from 2001 to 2010, with Braff recently admitting that some of the show’s jokes would not be able to be aired today, saying: “Some of it is way too un-PC, I’m sure, for now. We often cringe and go, ‘Okay, you definitely couldn’t do that joke today.’”