Alison Hammond has defended fellow ITV star Peter Andre‘s “tone-deaf” new movie Jafaican following its recent backlash.
Directed by Fredi Nwaka, the film sees Andre don a dreadlocked wig while speaking in a fake Jamaican accent as his character travels to Jamaica to commit fraud.
The synopsis reads: “Gazza, a small-time crook, seeks £35,000 for his gran’s care. He overhears a tip, devising a scheme. In 21 days, he must master Jamaican culture to execute a fraud in London and Jamaica, facing life-threatening risks.”
Since its release, viewers have accused the film of xenophobia and perpetuating negative stereotypes.
Appearing on today’s episode of This Morning, Andre, who is a regular on ITV shows such as Loose Women, and Nwaka sat down with Hammond and her co-host Dermot O’Leary to discuss Jafaican.
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Responding to social media reactions, which called the movie “lazy, tone deaf and frankly embarrassing,” Andre said that the film’s Jamaican cast and crew members didn’t voice any concerns, saying it “had all the approval from everyone”.
Andre said: “I think what I found strange is that we took a process of nearly three years from starting this to finishing. And we sat with legends like Oliver Samuels, doing the read over, doing the script and actually filming it.
“And when we went to Judgement Yard, which is where Sizzla Kalonji, reggae icon, lives and we’re invited into there to do this film. The whole process, if there was any point where any one of them said to us, this is not right, we shouldn’t do it – we would have stopped.”
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Defending Andre, Hammond said: “I’ve actually seen the film and I’m going to be honest with you, I actually loved the film. I mean I am a Jamaican, my mum was a Jamaican, my dad’s from Jamaica, I’ve been to Jamaica, I’ve seen Jamaica, and one of the mottos of Jamaica is ‘out of one, is many people’.
“You get white Jamaicans, you get Chinese Jamaicans, you get Jamaicans of all colours. You’re a white man playing a white Jamaican which is basically what you’re doing. You’re doing it out of love for your nan and I just think it’s lovely.”
Meanwhile, director Nwaka said of cultural appropriation claims: “I don’t see it that way. Anything that promotes conversation is great, and debate, and also puts a great highlight on a beautiful country and a beautiful culture. So I don’t see it as appropriation in any shape or form.”
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A group of Caribbean creatives, represented by PR expert and cultural commentator Marianne Sunshine shared their thoughts on the movie with The Voice.
Their letter said: “We feel there is no other way to make sense of how a Black filmmaker could write and direct something as xenophobic, tone-deaf and culturally violent as Jafaican. We feel qualified to say this having only seen the trailer — because even in its short form, it is absolutely clear that this project is rooted in mockery, not respect.”
Organisers of the Gold Coast Film Festival, where the film premiered, responded to the backlash with this statement: “The film is set out to showcase Jamaican culture not to mock it.”
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Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.