The acid test for comedians? Never apologize when they stir up controversy and outrage — and Druski just passed the test.
The comedian, who has collaborated on music videos with Drake, Jack Harlow and Lil Yachty, riled up the internet when he posted an Instagram video of himself in whiteface — actually, elaborate and clearly professional upper-body makeup, beard and mullet — mingling with the crowd at a NASCAR event and bellowing the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen‘s “Born in the U.S.A.” from a truck.
Shirtless with a farmers tan and wearing half-secured overalls, a stars-and-stripes cowboy hat and toting a can of beer, can be seen shouting pro-American slogans and behaving like a stereotypical redneck, but the video veers into controversial — and disturbing territory — when he spits, two separate times, at Black men in the crowd. As the second passes Druski in his truck, he questions the man’s appearances and tells him, “Find something safe to do, boy.”
The response to Druski’s NASCAR post drew largely positive response from commenters who referred to white entertainers wearing blackface such as Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in the film Tropic Thunder.
Not everyone on social media was as supportive. “Conflicted because it’s funny but I also kinda hate to see it,” wrote Holden Edward on X. “It’s hard enough as it is trying to tell people that you watch NASCAR without them either 1) giving you shit or 2) judging the hell out of you. We don’t need to promote the stereotype, yet NASCAR gave him VIP…”
In the wake of response to the video, Druski posted a second clip in response. Set to James Brown‘s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” the comedian confidently kicks open a door, lights a cigarette and throws the pack behind him. “AM I CANCELLED?” he wrote.
The post drew comments from Nick Cannon and Jamie Foxx. The latter posted four fire emojis, and Cannon wrote, “I could have warned you!!!! LOL 🤣🤣🤣 Great sh_t!”
Druski’s follow-up post prompted a debate among commenters about whether a Black person posing as white could be equated with the opposite. “You can’t have it one way and not see it the other way. If blackface is offensive then so is whiteface,” wrote one commenter.
Perhaps the most apt response came from papito_blessed hands: “You’re not cancelled, but go find yourself something safe to do.🤣”
