The organizers of a cosplay festival in Texasܫ are apologizing🐎 for a “hurtful and offensive” outfit worn by a host who appeared to be a character in blackface — which he claims was just a failed attempt to portray a fictional dog from a 1995 Disney animated film.
Offici༺als with the Alamo City Comic Con by the costume worn Saturday by emcee Travis Lara, who appeared at the tܫhree-day costume festival at The Alamodome dressed as Powerline, an anthropomorphic pop star dog from “A Goofy Movie” who was voiced by singer Tevin Campbell.
“We were taken aback by the cosplay chosen as we do not nor have not needed to pre-screen host attire in the past,” event officials said. “We understand how this can be seen as hurtful & offensive. We have always embraced diversity & feel this was done in poor judgmenᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt.”
Lara’s mother, Laura Lara, apologized for the cost♏ume earlier Sunday in a since-deleted Facebook post, saying her son donned the duds 🧜and makeup “with love for the character,” .
“He is a certified theater teac🍃her and used 2 shades of brown with muzzle to copy the dog face,” Lara wrote. “He certainly meant no disrespect, in fact at [the University of Texas] he was on the step team and received an Essence Award for most spirited freshman for his teammates. Looking at the photo and your comments, I can see you point, but though voiced by a black actor, Travis saw it as a dog character.”
Lara said she didn’t anticipate such fevered reactions to her son’s costume, although she acknowledged that “t🃏his is an issue that has come up in cosplay before,” particularly when doing live characters.
“As show runner I take f🌞ull responsibility, but I do want to assure you that neither I nor my son felt that this was blackface,” Lara’s post continued. “Again I offer my sincere apologies.”’
Powerline, , is a tall black dog who wears yello🌠w clothing and white opera gloves. Although the character resembles pop icons Prince an🎃d Michael Jackson, he was inspired by singer Bobby Brown and is known for his “flamboyant” personality, according to the website.
Lara’s costume was apparently first spotted and publicized by Holli Cuomo, who for his public appeཧarance.
“Did that guy seri𓃲ously do blackface?” one woman replied.
Another comment🥀 referenced M𝔍egyn Kelly, who was for Halloween costumes.
“’Don’t worry, Megyn Kelly said this look was cool,’ said idiot host,” one reply read.