‘This Is Us’ Cast and Fans React to Use of Uncensored Racial Slur

In a powerful episode of This Is Us on Tuesday, fans were able to learn more about Randall’s adoption process and the struggles the Pearson family had to overcome in order to legally make Randall a Pearson.

The fight to legally adopt their African American son led to a terse moment for Jack and Rebecca Pearson. Much as the show takes on real-life issues, “The World’s Most Disappointed Man” touched on race.

The dialogue of the episode took a surprising turn when the judge in the adoption case (Delroy Lindo) wasn’t so convinced that two white parents should be raising an African-American child — in fact, he even used the n-word without censorship.

“I don’t believe that child belongs in your home. That child belongs with a black family, Mr. and Mrs. Pearson,” Judge Bradley said. “How else will he see himself? Understand who he is?”

Later explaining to Jack and Rebecca, “I never understood what my blackness meant until a white man called me a n—–.”

At the time, Mandy Moore (Rebecca) live-tweeted, “This is not what Jack and Rebecca were hoping/expecting to hear from Judge Bradley.”

Read on to see how This Is Us viewers reacted to the use of the uncensored n-word on network TV.

Fans were shocked

Many fans were shocked to hear the full word used without any censorship.

 

Some thought the judge had a point

While fans were shocked by the use of the word, many wrote that the point Judge Bradley was trying to make to the Pearsons was valid.

Others applauded the authenticity of the episode

Some viewers saw the usage of the n-word as an opportunity to show the significance of the situation. 

Executive producer Isaac Aptaker told Entertainment Weekly that it was decided to use the entire word in order to compel the “reality of the show.”

“It felt like — talking about the reality of the situation — that [the judge] wouldn’t need to use a euphemism; he would probably just say the actual word to them. And yes, conversely the impact would land on them much more if they heard him use the actual word,” Aptaker said.

“I think because of the way the word was used, and the importance of it in the scene and the story we were telling, [NBC] completely got what we were trying to do, and did not have a problem with it,” he added.