Tina Fey once joked that people would look back at her work and think 'wow, that was pretty racist'

Tina Fey has contacted the streaming services that features her Emmy award-winning comedy show 30 Rock to ask them to remove several episodes of the show that featured white actors in blackface.

Four episodes from the satirical television series about a fictional sketch show which ran for seven seasons from 2006 to 2013 are set to be pulled as they feature the actors Jane Krakowski and Jon Hamm in blackface.

Fey, who created and starred in the show, wrote in a letter to executives which was published by Vulture, where she said:

As we strive to do the work and do better in regards to race in America, we believe that these episodes featuring actors in race-changing makeup are best taken out of circulation. 

I understand now that intent is not a free pass for white people to use these images. Going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on these tropes and be stung by their ugliness.

This comes after a number of British comedy shows such as Little Britain, The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentleman were removed from numerous streaming services for featuring characters played by white actors in blackface.

Although they are not necessarily linked, it appears that Tina Fey might have jokingly suggested that something like this about her work might emerge in the future.

Back in 2010 she received the Mark Twain prize for American Humour which is presented to people who have 'had an impact on American society in ways similar to' Twain, who is best known as the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

In her acceptance speech, Fey made a joke about Twain's work now being viewed as racist. The writer, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, briefly served in a Confederate militia and was also said to hold demeaning views of Native Americans. For some, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has now been retrospectively viewed as racist, due to the depiction of a black character called Jim who is a slave.

Back to Fey's speech and this is what she said:

I hope, that like Mark Twain, 100 years from now people will see my work and think 'wow, that is actually pretty racist.'

Fey joke prompted a big laugh from the audience there that day but it's doubtful that she would have known that 10 years later she would have to be apologising about episodes from her celebrated show and ask for them to never be shown again.

The clip of her speech resurfaced online following Fey request about 30 Rock and was promptly given the Curb Your Enthusiasm music treatment.

Credit where credit is due as Fey was actually the person who asked for the episodes to never be shown again and did it without any uproar or scandal.