Christopher Daniel Lilley (born 10 November 1974) is an Australian comedian. He is known for his creation and portrayal of several characters in the
mockumentary
A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
television series ''
We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year'' (2005), ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
'' (2007), ''
Angry Boys
''Angry Boys'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring Chris Lilley, continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series. In ''Angry Boys'', Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an Americ ...
'' (2011), ''
Ja'mie: Private School Girl'' (2013), ''
Jonah from Tonga
''Jonah from Tonga'' () is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring comedian Chris Lilley (comedian), Chris Lilley. The mockumentary series follows Jonah Takalua, a rebellious 14-year-old Australian boy of ...
'' (2014), and
''Lunatics'' (2019). He is a two-time winner of the
Logie Award for Most Popular Actor
The Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. The award recognises the popularity of an actor in an Australian program.
It was first awarded at the 19th Annual TV Week Logie Awa ...
.
Career

He began his career in his twenties as a
stand-up comedian
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...
while also working as a childcare worker at
Turramurra North Public School
North Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Turramurra is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Tu ...
and a shop assistant. In 2003, Lilley made his debut in ''
Big Bite
''Big Bite'' was an Australian sketch comedy television series which ran on the Seven Network from 8 May 2003 to 4 March 2004 in a prime time timeslot on Thursdays. Since the end of the series, episodes have been repeated on the Foxtel cable cha ...
'', a
Seven Network
Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
comedy programme, in which he portrayed extreme sports enthusiast Extreme Darren and the high-school drama teacher
Mr G
Hellen "Greg" Gregson, best known as Mr G, is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Lilley in the Australian mockumentary series '' Summer Heights High''. The character also appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Big Bite''.
Storylines
So ...
, a character that he continued in ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
''. ''Big Bite'' was nominated for Best Television Comedy Series at the 2003
Australian Film Institute Award
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...
s, marking the first time a comedy programme from a commercial television network had ever been nominated at the
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...
Awards. It did not win. The producers co-credited Lilley; however, the show lasted only one series before being
spun off into a comedy/variety programme. Lilley was a recurring guest on the programme, but it was cancelled after only a few episodes.
Lilley appeared in the film satire ''
Ned'', based on the Australian outlaw
Ned Kelly
Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...
. He appeared as the "MSN Butterfly" in a series of television advertisements and
Cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
** Filmmaking, the process of making a film
* Movie theate ...
for
MSN
MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...
. He has also appeared on the ''
Hamish & Andy
Hamish & Andy are an Australian comedy duo formed in 2003 by Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Best known for their various drive time radio programmes on the Hit Network, which aired in multiple formats until 2017, their shows gained consistently ...
''
radio show
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio netw ...
.
In 2015, Lilley was the main actor for
The Stafford Brothers
Stafford Brothers are Australian DJs and producers from the Gold Coast, Queensland known for blending the genres of house, electro, and progressive house music. Currently based in Los Angeles, California, the brothers were the first electron ...
,
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...
and
Jay Sean
Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (born 26 March 1981), known professionally as Jay Sean, is a British singer and songwriter. He debuted in the UK's Asian Underground scene as a member of the Rishi Rich Project with " Dance with You", which reached No. ...
's "
When You Feel This
"When You Feel This" is a song by Australian DJs and producers Stafford Brothers features rapper Rick Ross and British singer Jay Sean. It was released as a single in Australia on 10 July 2015.
The song peaked at number 12 on the Australian Dan ...
" music video.
''We Can Be Heroes''
After the cancellation of ''
Big Bite
''Big Bite'' was an Australian sketch comedy television series which ran on the Seven Network from 8 May 2003 to 4 March 2004 in a prime time timeslot on Thursdays. Since the end of the series, episodes have been repeated on the Foxtel cable cha ...
'', Lilley created ''
We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year'', a six-part series on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
, in which he portrayed various characters nominated for the
Australian of the Year Award
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...
. The series was co-written with Ryan Shelton.
Lilley portrayed several
characters in the series:
Phil Olivetti, a self-obsessed police officer;
Ricky Wong, a
Chinese Australian
Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese origin. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chine ...
university physics student from Melbourne;
Pat Mullins, a 47-year-old housewife with a dream to roll on her side from
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
to
Uluru
Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...
,
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
;
Daniel Sims, a teenage boy who donates an eardrum to his deaf twin brother, Nathan (both Daniel and Nathan later appeared in "Angry Boys"); and
Ja'mie King
Jamie Louise "Ja'mie" King ( ) is a fictional character portrayed by actor Chris Lilley in the Australian comedy series '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year'' (2005), '' Summer Heights High'' (2007), '' Ja'mie: Private Schoo ...
, a narcissistic girl attending a private high school in Sydney (Ja'mie later appeared in "Summer Heights High" and "Ja'mie: Private School Girl").
Lilley was nominated for Best Comedy Series and Best Lead Actor in Television at the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, and won the Best New Talent and Most Outstanding Comedy Program awards at the
Logie Awards of 2006. He also received a
Rose d'Or award in Switzerland for Best Male Comedy Performance. Following the series' success, it was sold to other countries under the new name ''The Nominees''.
''Summer Heights High''
Lilley's second mockumentary series, ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
'', aired on ABC TV in 2007.
In the series, Lilley played
the series' three main characters at a
public school:
Ja'mie King
Jamie Louise "Ja'mie" King ( ) is a fictional character portrayed by actor Chris Lilley in the Australian comedy series '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year'' (2005), '' Summer Heights High'' (2007), '' Ja'mie: Private Schoo ...
,
Mr G
Hellen "Greg" Gregson, best known as Mr G, is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Lilley in the Australian mockumentary series '' Summer Heights High''. The character also appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Big Bite''.
Storylines
So ...
and
Jonah Takalua
Jonah Takalua is a fictional character in the Australian mockumentary series '' Summer Heights High'', and the titular character in the six-part ''Jonah from Tonga''. He is portrayed in brownface by Chris Lilley, who also created the two shows. ...
. In March 2008, Lilley released a single, "
Naughty Girl", based on the series, and performed in character as drama teacher Mr G.
At the
2008 Logie Awards
The 50th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Sunday 4 May 2008 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. For the first time in the Logie Awards 50-year history, there was no host for the ceremony, but only a ser ...
he was nominated for four awards including Most Outstanding Actor and
Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Television, and won the
Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program.
The series was sold to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Lilley embarked on a promotional tour of the United States in October 2008 to promote the U.S. broadcast of the series, which began airing on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
on 9 November 2008. The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
began showing the programme on
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
in June 2008.
When asked whether there would be a second series, Lilley stated, "I never thought about it in the beginning because it was always a one-off thing. I'm not into just cashing in and rolling off into a second series that is not as good. I really enjoyed making the show, so the thought of writing and going back there again is really fun and exciting, but I haven't made a decision on what to do next."
''Angry Boys''
''
Angry Boys
''Angry Boys'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring Chris Lilley, continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series. In ''Angry Boys'', Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an Americ ...
'', Lilley's third mockumentary series, aired on ABC in Australia and BBC in the UK in 2011, and HBO in the US in 2012. The 12-part comedy series features six vastly different new characters played by Lilley. The show introduces
S.mouse!, a US rapper; Jen Okazaki, manipulative Japanese mother; Blake Oakfield, a champion surfer; Ruth "Gran" Sims, a guard at a juvenile detention facility; and her grandchildren, South Australian twins Daniel and Nathan Sims (who also featured in ''We Can Be Heroes'').
Lilley won the inaugural AACTA Award in 2012 for Best Comedy Performance in Television for ''Angry Boys''.
''Ja'mie: Private School Girl''
''Ja'mie: Private School Girl'', which aired in 2013, is a six-part half-hour comedy series. It was produced by Melbourne-based production company Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley, and was a co-production between the ABC in Australia and
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
in the US. It was pre-sold to
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
in the UK.
On 8 September 2013, Lilley revealed that the returning character to the series was
Ja'mie King
Jamie Louise "Ja'mie" King ( ) is a fictional character portrayed by actor Chris Lilley in the Australian comedy series '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year'' (2005), '' Summer Heights High'' (2007), '' Ja'mie: Private Schoo ...
, from ''
We Can Be Heroes'' and ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
''; he also revealed the title of the show.
Lilley won the 2014
Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor for his performance in ''Ja'mie: Private School Girl''.
''Jonah from Tonga''
On 26 November 2013, Lilley confirmed that he would be reviving
Jonah Takalua
Jonah Takalua is a fictional character in the Australian mockumentary series '' Summer Heights High'', and the titular character in the six-part ''Jonah from Tonga''. He is portrayed in brownface by Chris Lilley, who also created the two shows. ...
for a new show in 2014, titled ''Jonah From Tonga''. Jonah had been introduced in Lilley's 2007 series ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
''. At the conclusion of that series, Jonah was
expelled from Summer Heights High School. In the new series, his father, Rocky Takalua, has sent him back to his homeland of Tonga to live with his uncle and their family in order to get Jonah's life back on track.
The six-part series was produced by Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley in conjunction with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
. The show was originally posted online on the
ABC iView
ABC iview is a video on demand and catch-up TV service run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Currently iview video content can only be viewed by users in Australia. As of 2016, ABC iview attracts around 50 million plays monthly and a ...
service, available for viewing by Australian residents, and on
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...
in the United Kingdom, from 2–4 May 2014, before airing on
ABC1
ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...
from 7 May 2014 and BBC Three from 8 May 2014. In New Zealand
Māori Television
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
screened the first episode on 29 July 2017, but then withdrew later episodes.
''Lunatics''
In March 2018, it was announced that Lilley had been signed by
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
to create a 10-part series, with the titular character not yet disclosed. Filming began at the Bond University campus on the
Gold Coast, Queensland
The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...
.
On 10 April 2019, a trailer surfaced online showing a number of new characters. The show is called
''Lunatics'' and features a group of eccentric characters with different talents or oddities. Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Lilley would star in the lead role. ''Lunatics'' was released on 19 April 2019 exclusively on Netflix.
''Lunatics'' features six different characters, all played by Lilley, which include fashion retailer Keith Dick; estate agent Quentin Cook; 7-foot college student Becky Douglas; 12-year-old Gavin McGregor, who is an heir to an
earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...
dom; ex-pornstar Joyce Jeffries; and South African Jana Melhoopen-Jonks, a celebrity pet psychic who is also a
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
.
Lilley collaborated with
The Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band formed in 2005 comprising brothers Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote thei ...
and
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...
with his ''Lunatics'' characters Keith Dick and Jana Melhoopen-Jonks.
Personal life
Lilley has been a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
since the age of five.
He dated Milly Gattegno from The Faders DJs from 2014 to 2016.
Controversies
Lilley's series ''
Summer Heights High
''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it revolves around high-school ...
'' gained significant controversy, criticism and media scrutiny for its portrayal of such issues as mental disabilities, homosexuality, sexual abuse, and racism. Even before the series aired, some community groups complained about a "rape joke" and Mr G's inappropriate "touching" of a boy with
Down syndrome.
The ''
Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...
'' reported that parents and some teachers have considered the possibility that the show is influencing children to misbehave at school. Students were reportedly imitating Jonah and Ja'mie, repeating lines that were bullying, racist, and homophobic. Education Union branch president
Mary Bluett
Mary Bluett (born 12 March 1951) is an Australian trade unionist and the former president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU). In 1974, Bluett became a branch representative of the Victorian Secondary Teachers Associa ...
stated in response that the show was "clearly
tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...
". After episode three, in which a character called Annabel dies after taking ecstasy, the family of Annabel Catt, a 20-year old woman who died taking drugs at the 2007 Good Vibrations Festival in Sydney, complained that the program had been lampooning Annabel's death.
ABC apologised to the family, stating that the situation was purely coincidental and assured them that the filming of the episode in question had been completed eleven days before her daughter's death. ABC thereafter began to display a message before each episode stating that there is no link between the series' characters and people in real life.
On 29 July 2017, Lilley was the subject of criticism after posting a remix on his
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
account of a music clip entitled "
Squashed Nigga
"Squashed Nigga" is a song performed by fictional character, S.mouse (played by Chris Lilley), of the Australian television series ''Angry Boys''. It was released for digital download on 21 July 2011.
Context
"Squashed Nigga" was first featur ...
", starring the character
S.mouse
Shwayne Booth Jr., known as S.mouse (later as S.mouse!), is a fictional character from the Australian mockumentary television series ''Angry Boys''. He was frequently spotted at 8 Park Lane. The character is an African American rapper who lives in ...
from Lilley's 2011 TV show, ''
Angry Boys
''Angry Boys'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring Chris Lilley, continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series. In ''Angry Boys'', Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an Americ ...
''. The music video featured an
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
boy lying on the ground with his arms splayed. On 24 July 2017, the court case based on the
death of Elijah Doughty had ended in controversy and was the subject of pro-Aboriginal protests. Just like the real case, Lilley's music video described an Aboriginal boy being run over and killed. It was reported that many who criticised Lilley's inopportune timing were blocked from his Twitter account, with Lilley later deleting his social media accounts.
Lilley's series ''
Jonah from Tonga
''Jonah from Tonga'' () is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring comedian Chris Lilley (comedian), Chris Lilley. The mockumentary series follows Jonah Takalua, a rebellious 14-year-old Australian boy of ...
'' was called "racist" and resulted in protests from academics and Tongan youth concerned at the inaccurate and demeaning portrayals of Tongan culture. The show received criticism for Lilley's imitation of a non-White person, which was dubbed by certain media commentators as "
brownface
Brownface is a social phenomenon in which a white or light-skinned person attempts to portray themselves as a "brown" person of color, but less overtly and with a lighter complexion than traditional blackface. It is typically defined as a racis ...
", an act they have compared to
blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
minstrel shows
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
of the 19th century and early 20th century. The creators of the 2004 ABC TV documentary series ''Our Boys'' stated that Lilley drew inspiration for the Jonah character from their work.
The subject of ''Our Boys'' recalled being "absolutely embarrassed, full of hate, angry and exploited" by the "racist" Jonah character that was based on him.
The series' director, as well as a teacher at
Canterbury Boys High School also felt that the character "exploited" the Tongan students who Lilley had met while visiting the school after seeing ''Our Boys'' on television in 2004.
Many major US
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
organisations wrote to
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
expressing their "deep concern" over ''Jonah From Tonga''. These included the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
,
National Hispanic Media Coalition
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) civil rights organization active in the United States that was founded to eliminate hate, discrimination, and racism towards the Latino community.
NHMC collaborates with other ...
, American Indians in Film/TV, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities and The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (which itself includes the Asian American Justice Center, Asian Pacific American Advocates,
Japanese American Citizens League
The is an Asian American civil rights charity, headquartered in San Francisco, with regional chapters across the United States.
The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) describes itself as the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights ...
, Media Action Network for Asian Americans, National Federation of Filipino American Associations, and more).
In 2019, Lilley was again accused of blackface by journalists for his ''Lunatics'' character Jana Melhoopen-Jonks, a South African woman. This accusation was later acknowledged to have been unfounded, as this character is "clearly white."
Following the
2020 Black Lives Matter protests, BBC iPlayer removed ''Jonah from Tonga'' from its online streaming service. On 11 June 2020, Netflix confirmed it had removed four of Lilley's series from its streaming service, also in response to the Black Lives Matter protests and
movement
Movement may refer to:
Generic uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
* Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...
. In the weeks following these events, Lilley posted multiple videos of content involving the Jonah character to his YouTube channel.
Filmography
*
Discography
Albums
Singles
Podcasts
* ''Ja'miezing'' (2021) (as Ja'mie King)
*''Jana's Yard'' (2020) (as Jana Melhoopen-Jonks)
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
are a set of annual ceremonies presented by
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the
music of Australia
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...
. They commenced in 1987.
!
, -
,
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, ''Summer Heights High'' soundtrack
, rowspan="2",
Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album
,
, rowspan="2",
[ARIA Award previous winners. ]
, -
,
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, ''Angry Boys'' – Official Soundtrack Album
,
, -
,
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, "Learning to Be Me" (as Ja'mie)
, rowspan="2",
Best Comedy Release
,
, rowspan="2",
, -
,
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, ''Lunatics''
,
, -
! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" ,
Logie Awards
The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...
, -
, -
! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" ,
Rose d'Or
, -
References
External links
*
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Chris Lilleyon
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, Chris
1974 births
Australian stand-up comedians
Australian male comedians
Australian male television actors
Australian television writers
ARIA Award winners
People educated at Barker College
Macquarie University alumni
Male actors from Sydney
Living people
Australian male television writers
Television controversies in Australia
Race-related controversies in television
Obscenity controversies in television
21st-century Australian male actors
Blackface minstrel performers
Comedians from Sydney
Australian comedy musicians