Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to say Thursday he didn't wear blackface or brownface on more occasions after photos and videos of three instances surfaced.
Trudeau spoke after a video from the 1990s emerged Thursday morning showing Trudeau wearing blackface, with this coming after Time published a photo of Trudeau wearing brownface at a party in 2001. When that photo came out, Trudeau admitted to having worn blackface in high school as well, and that photo soon emerged.
On Thursday, Trudeau said "this is something that I deeply, deeply regret" and that "darkening your face, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface." This is something Trudeau said he "should have understood" at the time.
Trudeau while speaking to reporters was questioned several times about whether he wore blackface or brownface in more instances than the three that have come to light, and he declined to rule out the possibility that there could be more photos.
"I am wary of being definitive about this because the recent pictures that came out I had not remembered," Trudeau said, adding that because he comes "from a place of privilege," he has had a "massive blindspot." These revelations come a week after Trudeau launched his re-election campaign.
“The recent pictures that came out, I had not remembered.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized again, and said he’s “wary of being definitive about this,” when asked how many photos of him in blackface existed pic.twitter.com/tZqavOiBT2— Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) September 19, 2019