‘Petrol-sniffing’ comedian sparks outrage with racist skit

An Australian comedian has sparked furious backlash over a video of herself claiming to identify as an Aboriginal, including a scene of her sniffing petrol.
Lisa Jane Spencer, who is pale-skinned and blonde, posted the apparent skit which featured her face painted with white stripes reminiscent of ceremonial custom.
Clapping together two small twigs, she dances barefoot in a faux fur coat, appearing to mock Indigenous dance.
The voiceover introduces herself as ‘Aunty Lisa’.
“I started identifying as a black fella a few months ago,” she says to the camera.
“And I finally feel at peace with who I am — one of the mob.”
The video cuts to a scene of Spencer pretending to fill out a government form.
“Am I Aboriginal?” she reads from the questions. “Yes, yes I am.”
The so-called parody ends with her stating: “Aboriginal identity transcends skin colour. I am Aboriginal, end of story.”
She then lifts a red jerry can to her nose and sniffs from the opening, perpetuating a harmful stereotype.
The post, which had more than 21,000 likes on Instagram, was flooded with a barrage of outraged comments.
Influencer and author Sophie Cachia asked: “I’m so confused how you could come up with this concept thinking that it would be remotely funny or resonate with an audience. What is actually wrong with you?”
“Far out. This was a hard watch. Made me really sad,” wrote minnaleunig.
embraceplayau pointed out that the video was “not satire” but “100% Racism”.
“Educate yourself and the injustices of how you think ‘content’ such as this is seriously harmful and not funny at all.”
“Look at you, calling yourself a comedian but no one laughs so you say ‘I know, I’ll do racism but put it under the satire umbrella,’” said comic Scott O’Halloran.
SBS said it had reported the video which used the broadcaster’s watermark logo from the Insight program.
“SBS is aware of these posts and the unauthorised use of SBS logos. The posts and individual are in no way associated with our content and have been reported,” said a spokesperson.
“SBS unequivocally condemns all forms of racism and recognises the damaging impact it has on individuals, communities and social cohesion. Such views have no place in Australian society.”
Academics and Indigenous activists were swift in their condemnation while former Bachelorette Brooke Blurton, a Noongar-Yamatji woman, posted her own video.
Former Bachelor star and Noongar-Yamatji woman Brooke Blurton shared a video of her own denouncing Spencer’s skit.
“I really hate that I have to make this video, but I cannot sit back and just let this happen,” Blurton said, calling on her followers to report the video.
Spencer doubled down with her own statement and declared: “I apologise to absolutely nobody.”
“I love Aboriginal people. And I think they’re smart enough to know when they’re being used,” she wrote.
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