The CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" came under fire on Wednesday, after an episode that aired the previous evening depicted three white characters in yellowface.
The premise of the episode, named "Slap of a Million Exploding Suns," concerns a long-standing slap joke between Marshall (Jason Segel) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). Marshall is learning how to slap Barney, and in Tuesday night's episode, he sought the help of three "wise masters" - his friends, who were renamed Red Bird, Flower and Calligrapher for the episode, according to BuzzFeed.
Alyson Hannigan, who plays Lily Aldrin, and Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky were both dressed in Chinese chi-paos, with their hair pinned up in the style of a Japanese geisha. They ate noodles with chopsticks while speaking in stilted, pseudo-Asian accents about "much gold." Ted, (Josh Radnor), wore a Fu Manchu mustache, his face painted yellow. Windchimes twinkled in the background.
All Asian actors in the episode were extras with sparse lines and background appearances.
After the episode aired, the hashtag #HowIMetYourRacism immediately exploded online, with commentary running the gamut of supportive, to all-out enraged.
I seriously do not understand why How I Met Your Mother & @CBS thinks racism is "clever" or "funny." #HowIMetYourRacism
— Trudy (@thetrudz) January 15, 2014
I cannot believe it is 2014 and there are "smart" people in the world who this very day are probably defending that #HowIMetYourRacism epi, — Angie Manfredi (@misskubelik) January 15, 2014
Hadn't seen pics from #HowIMetYourRacism until just now. #CBS went as far as the Fu Manchu mustache? Damn. Shame. — Grace (@graceishuman) January 15, 2014
It is a sitcom people, they target everyone equally (cue Canadian jokes)-its sad we all can't just laugh at ourselves #HowIMetYourRacism — Shannon Faye (@ShaiFayeD) January 15, 2014
CBS hasn't yet released an official statement on the matter. Watch a clip from Tuesday night's episode here.
