David Byrne has issued a statement after a 1984 video of the star impersonating people of color using black and brownface resurfaced across social media.
The clip, a promotional video for the Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense, finds Byrne in a mock interview setting wearing his “Big Suit” from the film. He interviews himself by appearing as various journalists in a split-screen.
“I’d just about forgotten about this skit and I’m grateful that it has been brought to my attention,” Byrne tweeted in a string of posts on Tuesday. “To watch myself in the various characters, including black and brown face, I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgment that showed a lack of real understanding. It’s like looking in a mirror and seeing someone else- you’re not, or were not, the person you thought you were.”
“We have huge blind spots about ourselves- well, I certainly do,” he continued. “I’d like to think I am beyond making mistakes like this, but clearly at the time I was not. Like I say at the end of our Broadway show American Utopia ‘I need to change too’..and I believe I have changed since then.”
Byrne concluded by hoping that “folks have the grace and understanding to allow that someone like me, anyone really, can grow and change, and that the past can be examined with honesty and accountability.”
See his full statement below.
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.
