Must not mention monkeys

Scrubs actor Zach Braff has apologized after a tweet he sent on Sunday night comparing Pharrell’s bellboy outfit at the Grammys to the flying monkey in The Wizard of Oz got him into trouble.

For the performance of his award-winning song Happy, singer/producer Pharrell wore a bellboy-type hat and jacket that provoked much online debate.

While many viewers tweeted about Pharrell’s likeness to the bellhop in the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, others wondered if – given his political-charged performance – the outfit was a reference to black bellhops.

Braff joined the online debate when he jokingly shared a side-by-side picture of Pharrell and the flying monkey from the 2013 The Wizard of Oz-remake – Oz The Great and Powerful.

His post sparked much intense debate online and he was called out for not realizing that comparing African Americans to monkeys could be construed as an offensive racial slur.

On Monday Braff posted an apology, claiming that his reference was inspired by his voiceover role as a monkey in Oz.

'I love Pharrell. I thought the outfit he wore was similar to that of my bell hop in Oz. I apologize,’ he tweeted.

SOURCE