‘Tis the season for racist Halloween costumes, according to a London man who saw no issue with painting his face completely black as part of his spooky getup.
His fellow train passengers took notice, however, and were quick to voice their outrage.
According to the Daily Mail, the unnamed man boarded the London Underground’s central line seemingly dressed as Samuel L. Jackson‘s character from the 1994 hit movie “Pulp Fiction.” When confronted by a woman rider about his racist costume, the man shrugged his shoulders and asked, “why not?”
The incident was captured by London makeup artist Petra-Isabella Joli, who was traveling home on Saturday night when the drama unfolded. Joli, 22, posted the clip on Instagram showing the two passengers in a heated back and forth over the costume.
“‘Samuel L Jackson is a person I like,” the man tries explaining before being shot down by the woman.
“But I wouldn’t try and be a Black person,” the woman responds. “‘I think it’s a bit racist that you put Black make up on.”
The man still didn’t see the issue and argued he should be able to dress as “… a person I like.” U.S. reporter Megyn Kelly made a similar argument on her now-defunct NBC show earlier this month where she defended wearing blackface as long as you’re dressing as a character.
Kelly later apologized to her colleagues and viewers, saying that while she’s never been a “PC” person, she understands “we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age”.
Joli decried the train incident in her Instagram post, saying she couldn’t believe the “disgusting disrespect of blackface shown from this Bulgarian man.”
“This is 2018 and you’re in London,” she wrote. “Don’t expect people to sit quiet and not confront you.”
Watch more in the clip below.
