Samuel Okyere (born 21 April 1991) is a Ghanaian
television personality active in South Korea and Ghana.
Early life
He was accepted into the
Korean Government Scholarship Program The Korean Government Scholarship Program, or KGSP, is an academic scholarship funded and managed by the (NIIED), a branch of the Ministry of Education in South Korea. This scholarship provides non-Korean scholars (or overseas Koreans who fulfil ...
in 2009 and moved to Korea to study computer science and engineering at
Sogang University, in Seoul. Okyere is fluent in the Ashanti Twi dialect of the Ghanaian Akan language; Korean, English, French and Swahili.
Career
He was a cast member in the
JTBC talk show ''
Non-Summit
''Non-Summit'' (), also known as ''Abnormal Summit'', is a South Korean television program on JTBC which first aired on July 7, 2014. The show features a panel of non-Korean men, living in South Korea, who debate on various topics and "Korean cu ...
''. He was listed in
''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Asia in 2017.
Controversy
Sam Okyere took to his
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
in early August 2020 to condemn the use of
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
in a graduation photo by a student from a high school in
South Korea. His post was quickly met with criticism and caused controversy
for his reproaching the use of the derogatory theatrical make-up formally used to caricature and play on the racial stereotypes of Black people.
Controversy was raised for his highlighting the issue where he was accused of openly criticising the incident in an ill-natured way, as well as failing to ask for permission to re-post the image on his Instagram.
He has since deleted the post and apologised for the post.
Okyere has since spoken after this issue in a
BBC News podcast, wishing to highlight and create conversation to better gather understanding in regards to racial social issues. He has previously spoken on the issue of blackface used in the entertainment industry.
New backlash has arisen following a comment made on a photo of himself and actress
Park Eun-hye
Park Eun-hye (born February 21, 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in ''Dae Jang Geum'', which led to her popularity in China. She also played the lead role in the Taiwanese drama, ''Silence (TV series), Silence'', ...
in March 2019 by replying to a comment that was deemed suggestive.
Okyere has deleted his Instagram account due to additional backlash for the comment.
Filmography
Variety shows
TV series
Film
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okyere, Sam
1991 births
Living people
Ghanaian Christians
Ghanaian television personalities
Ghanaian expatriates in South Korea
Sogang University alumni
People from Accra