Best Actress Oscar-nominee Fernanda Torres apologises for wearing Blackface in resurfaced sketch
Best Actress Oscar-nominee Fernanda Torres apologises for wearing Blackface in resurfaced sketch
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‘It is important for me to address this swiftly,’ the actor said. Fernanda Torres has apologised for wearing Blackface in a decades-old comedy sketch that resurfaced following her first-time Oscar nomination for her performance in Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here.
![[Torres in ‘I’m Still Here’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/21/Film_Review_-_I%27m_Still_Here_97806.jpg)
The actor, 59, is the second Brazilian star ever to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar – her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, 95, was the first for her role in Salles’ Central Station in 1998. Torres performed the offensive skit when appearing on the Brazilian TV show Fantástico, which still airs weekly on Sunday nights on the TV Globo channel.
The actor continued: “At that time, despite the efforts of Black movements and organizations, the awareness of the racist history and symbolism of blackface hadn’t yet entered the mainstream public consciousness in Brazil. “Thanks to better cultural understanding and important but incomplete achievements in this century, it’s very clear now in our country and everywhere that blackface is never acceptable,” she added.
“This is an important conversation we must continue to have with one another in order 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 attentive and committed to the pursuit of vital changes needed to live in a world free from inequality and racism.”.
