When you just think you’d heard enough racist comments on Disney’s Live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, another hit comes from an uninformed or completely ignorant TikTok user who thought it’d be hilarious to do blackface amidst the controversy.
According to reports, this particularly TikToker, whose name has been identified as Jossi Marcheli Risaputra, released a video where his face was plastered by what seems to be a black mask.
He then pretends to be a black girl who’s just seen herself represented in The Little Mermaid by shouting, ‘Mommy! She looks just like me. She’s so pretty, mommy!” before putting on a red wig.
This has elicited a sea of reactions from numerous TikTok users, with many feeling enraged by the video.
“I have no words,” said one user.
“Ppl are just so disrespectful. It’s unbelievable,” another reiterated.
And you’d think the negative backlash and harsh comments would call for an apology. Nope!
Risaputra unapologetically took to TikTok to state, “Just woke up, and my video is still up. I will stick to TikTok community guidelines. Play by the rule book. I’m not gonna remove the video myself.”
Well, as of today, all Risaputra’s social media outlets seem to have been flagged, including his TikTok, as they have all been temporally inaccessible today. Those enraged by his mocking post are referring to themselves as Twitter detectives after digging up information on Risaputra, including speculation about his family and education.
Attempts to reach out to his sister, university, and law school has been futile, though – there has been no response.
Risaputra is yet to make any statement or speak out regarding the viral video.
Blackface was a character created in the 1800s by white actors who performed with paint on their faces to impersonate enslaved Africans. They were depicted as ignorant, lazy, and hypersexual characters with hopes of exaggerating what most thought to be the mannerisms of African Americans.