‘It’s 2019… black culture is beautiful’: Group of rugby players dressed in blackface during a pub crawl are made to wash their faces and then kicked out of venue
- Group of men showed up to pub dressed as ‘dirty pirates and Arabs on Saturday
- Customers were shocked when they noticed men had painted their faces black
- Performer Andy Woodcock grabbed them and forced them to their wash faces
A group of rugby players who were dressed in blackface were forced to scrub the paint off before they were kicked out of a bar after sparking outrage from customers.
The group of young men were dressed as pirates and Arabs when they entered Wanka’s Water Bar, in New Zealand’s South Island, on Saturday night.
On-lookers were left shocked when they noticed the men had painted their faces with black face paint.
A group of rugby players dressed in blackface were forced to scrub the paint off before they were kicked out of the bar after sparking outrage from customers
‘I got the biggest guy and walked him and his crew to the bathroom where they washed their faces,’ Any Woodcock said (pictured with his partner)
Performer Andy Woodcock confronted the group of about nine men immediately.
‘I got the biggest guy and walked him and his crew to the bathroom where they washed their faces. I made three of them do it in person; the rest followed suit and then were kicked out,’ he told Stuff.
‘It was shocking to see it, but it’s not something I think they will do again to be honest.’
He said he reacted immediately because of his own background.
‘I’m adopted, my family is Māori. I make music with Nigerians in Canada and America,’ he said.
‘It’s 2019 and black culture is beautiful.’
Staff refused to serve the group before the men were asked to leave the venue.
Owner Toby May said the group had thought they were being ‘dirty pirates’ but later accepted it was a mistake.
The group of young men were dressed as pirates and Arabs when they entered Wanka’s Water Bar (pictured), in New Zealand’s South Island, on Saturday night