Listen up ladies and gents! John Oliver tapped Leslie Jones, Uzo Aduba and Craig Robinson to teach a beauty lesson on Black hair for the Sunday, May 9, episode of Last Week Tonight.
“Look, I realize I’m not the ideal person to talk about Black hair. I look like I still go to an old-time barber named Valentino and ask for the tidy Liza Minelli,” Oliver opened his segment, which would go on to touch on The Crown Act, which aims to end natural hair discrimination.
He continued: “Black hair shouldn’t be viewed, corralled or judged by white people’s comfort, because it doesn’t belong to white people. It doesn’t affect white people and white people really don’t need to have an opinion on it.”
Given that Oliver is admittedly a “white guy on TV,” he assembled an expert panel to issue a PSA on Black hair. “While social stigma and unrealistic beauty standards aren’t going to go away overnight, there are a few things that white viewers in particular might want to keep in mind going forward, and to that end, if you are one, there’s a message you should probably hear,” the evening show host said, tossing the show over to Jones, Aduba and Robinson.
“Look, white people. I know you have lots of questions,” Jones starts off. “Like, maybe too many questions,” Robinson adds.
The trio goes on to list the following: How often do you have to wash Black hair? What is a silk press? What does a dorag do?
To calm curious minds, Jones explains: “The good news is we’re about to fill you in. We’re about to give you the answer to all of your questions about Black hair.”
The much-anticipated answer? Google it! Or, as Jones puts it, “F—king Google it!”
Following the very simple solution, Aduba offers up an alternative. “I mean, it doesn’t have to be Google,” she said, with Jones listing off other viable options like Bing, YouTube and Wikipedia.
“Once you get the information you can appreciate all the beauty and hard work it takes to keeping my hair laid and looking good,” Jones says, showing off her style.
Not interested in taking to Google to answer your Black hair question?
Well, the trio has an additional PSA: “F—king off is always an option … You can learn what the f—k a box braid is b—tch. And there’s one more thing,” the Jones adds, before throwing the mic to Robinson. “Don’t spray my head with water and tap my head, I’m not a cat.”
