Who was Jim Davidson's controversial character Chalky White?
Jim Davidson has courted controversy again in a new interview with Piers Morgan (Picture: FremantleMedia Ltd/REX/Shutterstock)

Jim Davidson’s interview on Piers Morgan’s talk show Life Stories has caused controversy when talk turned to his seventies stand-up character Chalky White.

The comedian, 64, reportedly caused people to walk out of the taping of his interview over his answer to Piers’ question about whether Chalky would be perceived as racist today.

Speaking on the show, Jim said: ‘Have you noticed black guys now don’t like that? West Indian. I don’t know where that accent comes from.

‘That. I find funny. The way other people talk. I don’t know what black people think. I have not met them all yet.’

Jim added: ‘When I did that Chalky stuff it was about an accent. The only reason he was black was because I could do the accent.’

Chalky White was a hit for Davidson when he started out in comedy, but things nosedived when he performed it during BBC One’s Seaside Special in 1977. He was criticised for his ‘crude racist jokes’.

The character, which involved Davidson putting on a (poor) West Indian accent, was slammed for perpetuating negative stereotypes as Chalky was often shown to be lazy and into drugs.

However he has always defended the character, telling The Telegraph in 2014 that the reason why he doesn’t feature in his routines is because ‘you rarely hear West Indian accents now.’

He went on to release a Christmas single in 1980, a cover of White Christmas performed with a Jamaican accent.

In his interview with Piers, which airs on Saturday night, he insisted that he isn’t racist.

Who was Jim Davidson's controversial character Chalky White?
Jim Davidson speaks to Piers Morgan (Picture: ITV)

He said: ‘I’m not too keen on Belgians but then that doesn’t count does it? This is a black thing isn’t it? It is, that’s what racism is about I think, what people tend to think.’

Jim also claimed that Chalky was ‘all about accents’, explaining: ‘It was not about black people. It was about watching people.’

Maybe he knows a lot of West Indians.

Piers Morgan’s Life Stories airs Saturday at 9.50pm on ITV.

MORE: Jim Davidson admits Operation Yewtree investigations left him ‘terrified’

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