Fact #157026
When:
Short story:
Petula Clark stars in her first North American tv spectacular, Petula, broadcast by NBC in the USA. Her guest is Harry Belafonte. The show marks the first time a man and woman of different races exchanged physical contact on American television, and causes considerable controversy. Doyle Lott, a vice president from Chrysler, the show's sponsor, is present at the taping, and objects to the "interracial touching", fearing that it would offend white Southern viewers — this at a time when racial conflict was a major issue in the U.S. Lott insisted they substitute a different take, but the show's makers refused. Soon after, Doyle Lott was relieved of all his responsibilities at Chrysler.
Full article:
Harry Belafonte : After the civil rights movement had been effectively demonstrated, a young woman by the name of Petula Clark and I performed together on television, and it was a heralded show, because Petula Clark was at the height of her fame. I was in the height of my ascendancy at the time. We loved the work that each other had done and enjoyed performing together.
And at the end of this particular song that we sang together, at the end of it, because we had successfully achieved what was a rather difficult technical approach to accomplish, she reached over, delighted that we had technically achieved our goals, and she put her hand on my hand.
The account executive for the sponsor of the show saw the touch and said that he was violated by it. He did not want it to go forward, that it would upset Southern viewers, and that he wanted that shot struck from the — from the — he wanted it edited out.
Petula Clark had the rights to her show, and they called her to tell her quietly what had happened, why this was not — why they were having difficulty, and she came, and then she told me what the problem was, and she wanted to know, how did I want to handle it?
And I told her we were in a very peculiar place at that moment. Here we were, getting on television for the first time, seeking to have black images put in positive ways on television, and that, certainly, to raise a question at this time would not only frighten other people but, perhaps, even cause her show to be suspended and that I would defer to her.
And she said, "I will go any way that you want to go, Harry." And I said, "Well, I'd like to take 'em on." And she said, "Well, then let's do that."
So we took it on, and the press carried a lot of stories on the subject. She survived. The show did very well. Her ratings went up, and she stayed on television for a very long time.
(Source : not known)
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And at the end of this particular song that we sang together, at the end of it, because we had successfully achieved what was a rather difficult technical approach to accomplish, she reached over, delighted that we had technically achieved our goals, and she put her hand on my hand.
The account executive for the sponsor of the show saw the touch and said that he was violated by it. He did not want it to go forward, that it would upset Southern viewers, and that he wanted that shot struck from the — from the — he wanted it edited out.
Petula Clark had the rights to her show, and they called her to tell her quietly what had happened, why this was not — why they were having difficulty, and she came, and then she told me what the problem was, and she wanted to know, how did I want to handle it?
And I told her we were in a very peculiar place at that moment. Here we were, getting on television for the first time, seeking to have black images put in positive ways on television, and that, certainly, to raise a question at this time would not only frighten other people but, perhaps, even cause her show to be suspended and that I would defer to her.
And she said, "I will go any way that you want to go, Harry." And I said, "Well, I'd like to take 'em on." And she said, "Well, then let's do that."
So we took it on, and the press carried a lot of stories on the subject. She survived. The show did very well. Her ratings went up, and she stayed on television for a very long time.
(Source : not known)