Did Judy Garland do blackface? Everybody Sing role explored as 1938 film resurfaces in viral tweet

The late actress Judy Garland, who passed away in 1969, is currently going viral for her controversial role in the 1938 film, Everybody Sing. Judy, who was 16 at the time, reportedly appeared in blackface in the film and netizens have begun talking about it on Twitter and other social media platforms. It all started when a Twitter user, @browardbully, posted two pictures of Judy Garland side by side.

In the first image, Judy can be seen in blackface, and in the other, she is seen as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz where she isn't in blackface. As the image started going viral, many social media users accused her of being a racist back in the day.

After Garland's images circulated on the internet, netizens started to call her a racist for the blackface (Image via Twitter)

However, Twitter also added a message just below the picture stating how she was a minor when she did the blackface and the film. It added that she had “no agency over her decisions, and was under an abusive management.” Twitter also stated how Judy Garland later became a “vocal supporter of The Civil Rights movement.”

Twitter added a context note under the now-viral picture of Garland. (Image via Twitter)

The movie Everybody Sing was released in 1938, and the musical had a duration of an hour and twenty minutes. The film that Judy Garland starred in was directed by Edwin L. Marin and was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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Details about Judy Garland’s role in Everybody Sing explored as the late actress gets slammed for blackface after 85 years

In the old musical movie Everybody Sing, which was released in 1938, Judy Garland played the character named Judy Bellaire. In the popular movie, she encouraged her school choir to add a modern twist to a classical song which got her kicked out of her fancy school. With help from Ricky Saboni, played by Allan Jones, who worked for her family, Judy decided to follow her dream and audition for a musical.

However, controversy is now brewing, as in one part of the movie, Judy Garland's character puts on dark makeup. However, the character was seen in dark makeup as she was trying to pretend to be someone else, which is known as blackface. This was something that happened a lot in old movies, but today, as the awareness about racism has grown over the years, the practice of blackface is finally being considered hurtful and wrong.

Judy Garland is accompanied by actors like Allan Jones, who played Ricky Saboni, and Lynne Carver, who played Sylvia. However, now that Judy is going viral for her blackface picture, it is also important to know that the Academy-winning actress had a troubled personal life. She suffered from mental and physical health issues right from adolescence.

She was later exposed to drugs as an adult and had financial troubles due to the same. However, she later became a big supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and contributed hugely to the campaigns. Judy passed away in June 1969 and was found dead in her apartment in London. The popular actress passed away due to a drug overdose.

All in all, the pictures being shared with the claims that Judy was a racist back then are not true. The netizens claiming the same are being corrected by other social media users who are presenting facts about how she was troubled and forced into the role.