Late-night talk show hosts take jabs at Trudeau amid blackface scandal

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau got the wrong kind of international attention Thursday as late-night talk show hosts south of the border took jabs at him for dressing in brown- and blackface when he was younger.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2019 (2529 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau got the wrong kind of international attention Thursday as late-night talk show hosts south of the border took jabs at him for dressing in brown- and blackface when he was younger.

As part of his opening segment, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah said the reason Trudeau has been popular in the U.S. is because he’s been a women’s rights and environmental advocate, and he has connected with minority communities.

“But now we are learning that he may have connected with minority communities a little too much,” Noah joked.

A black-and-white photo from a 2001 yearbook shows Trudeau at an “Arabian Nights”-themed gala event at a Vancouver private school where he once taught.

In the photo, published Wednesday by Time magazine, Trudeau is clad in a turban and robe with his face, hands and neck covered in dark makeup.

Trudeau, who is seeking re-election as prime minister, apologized profusely afterward, calling the action racist, although he said he wasn’t aware it was racist at the time.

Noah, a South African comedian, joked, “if you are going to darken your skin, at least get the colour right.”

“Trudeau isn’t dressed as Aladdin, he’s dressed as Aladdin doing blackface,” Noah said.

He went on to say Trudeau didn’t need the brownface to make the costume work at the event.

“No one is going to see him and be like, ‘Oh, white skin, are you the snowman from ‘Frozen?'”

Trudeau has also admitted to wearing blackface in a high school performance where he sang Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song (Day O).”

Thursday morning, Global News published a short video of a young Trudeau again in blackface, sticking out his tongue for the camera and raising his arms over his head. The Liberals said that video was from the early 1990s, putting him in his early 20s.

The Liberal leader was also mentioned on the “Conan” talk show Thursday night.

“A big scandal up in Canada,” host Conan O’Brien said as some audience members cheered.

“I know you are Canadian, but this is not good news for you,” he said to them. “Canadians are just so happy to be mentioned.”

Unlike some of the others, “Late Night with Seth Meyers” didn’t show Trudeau’s brownface photo.

The photo “is so bad that Canadians travelling in Europe are going to start telling people they’re American,” host Seth Meyers said.

Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert also used his opening segment on “The Late Show” to mention the controversy.

“A photo has emerged of Trudeau wearing brownface at a party. This is pretty bad,” Colbert said.

“And I just want to say — it’s not us this time. Suck it, Canada!”

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

ER wait times have hit all-time highs in Winnipeg and are impacting nearly all aspects of hospital operations

Tom Brodbeck 17 minute read Preview

ER wait times have hit all-time highs in Winnipeg and are impacting nearly all aspects of hospital operations

Tom Brodbeck 17 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

On most days at Health Sciences Centre’s adult emergency department, all 58 treatment beds are filled with sick patients. Another dozen or so brought in by ambulance line the hallways on stretchers, with only one nurse to look after them.

Out in the waiting room, about 30 or 40 people — sometimes more — are slouched in chairs in pain or discomfort, waiting hours to see a doctor. Most have been assessed by a triage nurse, but many will have to wait 10 to 20 hours to be examined by a physician because there’s no room for them in the treatment area.

Some patients leave because they can no longer tolerate the excruciating wait, only to return days later, sicker than they were before.

Welcome to the emergency department at Manitoba’s largest hospital, where some of the highest-acuity patients seek medical care but now face delays that were unimaginable a few years ago.

Read
Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

Provincial teacher watchdog releases names, details in three disciplinary matters

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Preview

Provincial teacher watchdog releases names, details in three disciplinary matters

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

An Interlake teacher with a history of “intimidating” outbursts has been ordered to participate in counselling and study anger-management strategies after he made a child cry.

Read
Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

Roadside giants towering symbols of Canada’s quirkiness

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Preview

Roadside giants towering symbols of Canada’s quirkiness

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Could you imagine a Canada without Mr. PG repping Prince George, B.C.? Or the Big Nickel in Sudbury? Or, my personal favourite, Happy Rock in Gladstone?

Earlier this summer, CBC’s Cost of Living looked at the economics of these giant roadside attractions — of which there are more than 1,500 in Canada — and the cost of keeping them.

Some are falling into disrepair — this is why public art funding is necessary, by the way, not just for construction, but maintenance — and some towns are weighing whether or not that money is better spent elsewhere.

The main character of the story: Tyra the Tyrannosaurus, the rather literal symbol of Drumheller, Alta., a.k.a. the Dinosaur Capital of the World since 2000, who could be facing extinction after the lease agreement between the town and the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce ends in 2029.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

City inundated with thousands of complaints after launch of new transit system

Morgan Modjeski 11 minute read Preview

City inundated with thousands of complaints after launch of new transit system

Morgan Modjeski 11 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

Despite complaints from thousands of dissatisfied users, Winnipeg hasn't hit the brakes on the rollout of its new primary transit network. And it appears that ignoring the public response cost Winnipeg Transit millions of dollars in lost revenue and ridership.

Read
Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

Bombers offence stalls in 22-19 loss to Elks

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Preview

Bombers offence stalls in 22-19 loss to Elks

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:19 AM CDT

It was a microcosm of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season to this point: a first half that burned bright only to be doused in cold water.

The Bombers began the first leg of their mid-season gauntlet with a 22-19 loss to the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium in the Alberta capital on Friday night.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo orchestrated an eight-play, 54-yard drive that set up a 40-yard game-winning field goal by Vincent Blanchard that snuck inside the left upright with zeros on the clock.

The drive, which was plagued by poor tackling by the Bombers defence, came after Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo tied the game at 19-19 on a 53-yard boot with 1:41 remaining in the contest.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 8:19 AM CDT