"Dancing With the Stars" pro Julianne Hough shocked fans when photos of her donning blackface at a Halloween party on Oct. 25 hit the net, and now "Orange is the New Black" actress Laverne Cox has spoken out about the star's controversial costume.
Hough dressed up as fan favorite "New Black" character Crazy Eyes. Actress Uzo Aduba has so far remained silent in the midst of the controversy. Cox, however, was more than willing to open up to Entertainment Weekly with her thoughts on Hough's distasteful choice of costume.
"I think it's great she likes our show," Cox told the magazine. "Crazy Eyes is my favorite character besides mine too. But it's really interesting that she doesn't seem to understand. It's historically tricky in this country to re-create blackface. I'm not opposed to someone having their form of expression, but she seemed to be completely unaware of the historical implications going in, and I think that's problematic. If you want to make a choice like that, I think it's important to understand the historical context you are walking into."
Following the backlash she received on across social media and on gossip sites, Hough offered an apology to her Twitter followers soon after the photos were released.
"I am a huge fan of the show Orange is the New black, actress Uzo Aduba, and the character she has created," Hough tweeted. "It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize."
Hough donned skin-darkening make-up and even darkened her blonde hair and eyebrows.She wore an orange jumpsuit over a gray long-sleeve and kept her hair in Crazy Eye's signature koiffe.
As for fans that dressed up as her own character Sophia Burset, Laverne told Entertainment Weekly, "I's so amazingly flattering. I don't know if that's a sign that you've made it, but it's wonderful."
via Twitter
