By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Polish Singer's Kendrick Lamar Blackface Act Draws Backlash & Outrage
Polish singer Kuba Szmajkowski won a reality TV show while performing “HUMBLE” by Kendrick Lamar in full Blackface and using the N-word.
Polish singer Kuba Szmajkowski won a reality TV show while performing “HUMBLE” by Kendrick Lamar in full Blackface and using the N-word.
Folks it is 2023, we should not have to say this again, but here we go: Blackface is unacceptable and offensive and under no circumstances should you don it to imitate a performer of color. Period. Sadly Polish singer Kuba Szmajkowski did not get the memo and even worse, he won a reality TV show while performing “HUMBLE” by Kendrick Lamar in full Blackface and using the N-word.
Yikes.
This occurred on a recent episode of Your Face Sounds Familiar, which is a karaoke-style competition show that has Polish celebrities impersonate music icons who are assigned at random.
In a video that is still on his instagram, Szmajkowski posted a “get ready with me” of him putting on Blackface, including fake facial hair and a wig with “cornrows.”
Szmajkowski is currently in the lead for the season’s 100,000 PLN ($23,000) prize after winning the second episode in the show's 19th season. If he wins, the money will go to the charity of his choosing.
Szmajkowski wasn’t the only one who performed in Blackface in his episode — Polish actress Pola Gonciarz performed as Beyoncé while also in full Blackface.
In the third episode, which has not come out yet, Szmajkowski will be performing as Damiano David, the lead singer of the Italian Band Måneskin. Other contestants will also be performing as Sean Paul and Michael Jackson.
This is not the first time Blackface has appeared in the show since its premiere in 2014. The first time the show received backlash was when Tomasz Ciiachorowski performed “Stronger” in Blackface as Kanye West.
A video on the show’s official YouTube of a polish celebrity in Blackface performing Rihanna’s “Diamonds” in 2016 has over five million views. There have also been other white contestants who have appeared as Drake, Whitney Houston, and DJ Khaled.
There has been no response from the show or the production company, Endemol Shine Poland, about the recent backlash. However, the program makers did post a statement to Instagram that they were “surprised” by the backlash.
“The Polish edition of the show, seen as exemplary abroad, always tries to show great performances, which strive to be as close to the original as possible,” the program makers stated in the post.
No, just no.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
