Uzo Aduba has not publicly commented on Julianne Hough’s choice of Halloween costume over the weekend, which is causing quite a stir. However, her Orange is the New Black co-star, Laverne Cox, is.
Cox commented on Hough’s blackface costume and said she thinks it’s “problematic” that the former Dancing with the Stars champ doesn’t understand the deep-rooted history.
While at the TV Academy event celebrating LGBT characters on Monday, Cox told EW, “I think it’s great she likes our show,” adding that Crazy Eyes is her favorite character as well.
However, she explained, “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.”
Moreover, Hough’s supporters have rallied around her after the incident, with her brother Derek Hough as well as Val Chmerkovskiy and contestant Bill Engvall.
Her brother admitted it wasn’t her “brightest moment” but insists she had no ill intentions behind it.
image: ABC