Netflix was right to pull Lilley’s shows. We have no need for him to whitesplain Tongan people for entertainment

When I first watched Summer Heights High, seeing the character of Jonah – a lazy, dumb, breakdancing, Tongan teenager – I was mortified and struck dumb by the fact that in 2007 brownface was allowed on Australian TV.

This week it was revealed that Netflix had quietly pulled four of Chris Lilley’s television shows, specifically those that featured Lilley in black- or brownface portraying Tongan schoolboy Jonah Takalua and African American rapper S.mouse.