Peter Andre finally responds to film backlash after using fake Jamaican accent and dreadlocks

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Peter Andre has finally addressed the controversy surrounding his new film Jafaican, which is set to launch at the Gold Coast Film Festival in Australia on Friday.

Andre, 52, was slammed for posing as a Jamaican man with a fake accent and dreadlocks in the film’s trailer, which dropped last month.

The movie was teased: ‘Desperate to secure £35,000 for his gran’s care, small-time crook Gazza jumps on a risky tip-off and hatches a daring scam.

‘With just 21 days to pull it off, he must immerse himself in Jamaican culture to con his way between London and Jamaica.’

The upcoming film follows Gary Buckle – played by Peter – who decides to impersonate a Jamaican gangster in order to steal his money to pay for his own grandmother’s care home fees.

Peter stars alongside the likes of Wil Johnson, Jamie Lomas, and Oliver Samuels in the film.

Andre addressed the controversy, saying: ‘So for me, it’s acting – I get to do something light-hearted, something funny’ (Picture: Channel 7)

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Many people found the trailer racist and distasteful, and Andre has finally addressed this backlash in his first interview about Jafaican on Channel 7 in Australia ahead of the festival in Queensland.

He said: ‘[It’s] a heist like you’ve never seen before! [Gary] is in a situation where he has to get money to help his [grandmother].’

Andre continued: ‘He tries everything and basically comes up with this scheme because apparently Gary looks like this guy in Jamaica who happens to be ready to inherit $3 million. So he comes up with this planning thinking ‘well if I look like him, surely I could just go to Jamaica for a little bit and keep my mouth shut maybe and I’ll get the money and help my nan’. And of course, that’s not gonna go smoothly at all.’

He was asked in the interview: ‘The trailer did see some headlines about an English-born Australian-raised actor playing a Jamaican character, you know about that. Are you surprised there’s been some mixed feedback here or were you anticipating that?’

Andre replied: ‘Well, to be fair, I mean, I think it’s good to get all sorts of feedback. I mean, this is not … it’s my first lead role but I’ve done quite a few roles before. And all of them, I’ve played different characters.’

He continued: ‘So for me, it’s acting – I get to do something light-hearted, something funny. Something that y’know is the kind of film I’d wanna watch. So it’s almost like a little bit self-indulgent in the sense that I get to do something that I’ve really, really wanted to do.’

The singer went on to praise director Fredi Nwaka, saying: ‘[He’s] so good because he doesn’t let me just play the character that you think you’re gonna play. He always gets me to play someone very, very different.’

Social media users have continued to be vocal about the film.

‘Peter Andre starring as the lead character of a film called JAFAICAN where he’s pretending to be a Jamaican and wearing a dreadlock wig is not something I was expecting to see in the year of our Lord 2025 but here we are…’ Ronke posted on X.

‘This cannot be real,’ Harriet questioned.

‘What decade are we living in????’ Ben shared.

‘Wish I could blame AI for this,’ Cass added.

Others called it ‘outrageous’, ‘nonsense’ and said they were ‘lost for words’.

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