Brownface TV parody of 'Roma' star causes outrage, surprising Mexican show's creators

Yessica Rosales, also known as Yeka Rosales, played Aparicio in the new season of Mexican network Televisa's comedy show "La Parodia," which premiered Monday.

Several photos and images of the sketch show Rosales with brown skin, thick lips and wearing a black wig in an apparent effort to make herself look more like the indigenous actress.

A representative for Aparicio said the actress had no comment about the parody.

Rosales' character -- "La Yalitza" -- was part of a larger parody of Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's film that included parodies of several members of the cast.

Televisa spokesman Alejandro Olmos Cruz said the network strongly condemns any form of racism.

"We do not believe that the production of 'La Parodia' engages in this type of practice," Olmos Cruz said in an email.

He indicated that Rosales' characterization was in "bad taste."

The network has not received any negative feedback about the sketch after more than 1.6 million people watched the show's premiere on Monday, the spokesman said.

Rosales and the show have faced backlash on social media from people in the United States and other countries around the world. People called them racist and accused them of making fun of Aparicio.

But many in Mexico have expressed their approval of Rosales' work, saying they saw her appearance as funny because it was a parody.

Since then, Rosales has defended her actions and posted photos of herself playing characters with different skin tones.

"Which skin tone should I use to play Yalitza that would not offend you?" she wrote on Twitter. "I don't discriminate. I portray all the skin tones and races and ages in the world."

"Why didn't anybody take insult when I played Donna Summer?" she wrote.

She also posted several photos of popular light-skinned entertainers in Mexico who darkened their skin to portray a character.

The show's producer, Reynaldo López, dismissed the criticism of Rosales' character in a series of tweets. He said racism is mocking and "discriminating others based on their roots, ethnicity and social and economic status."

López also questioned why there has not been any backlash for other characters in the show, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

"We use makeup, prosthetics, wigs and costumes for all of them," he wrote.

The controversy, he said, emphasizes the idea that having a darker skin tone is bad when the reality is that all skin tones are equal.

Let's block ads! (Why?)