Source: Gilbert Flores / Getty
Janet Jackson seems to be fully down the rabbit hole of misinformation. During a recent interview, the music icon said she heard that Vice President Kamala Harris is not Black, and fans on social media are not happy about her apparent naivete.
To be clear, Kamala Harris has an Indian mother and Black, by way of Jamaica, father. So that makes her both Black and Indian—so, both. She has identified as Black her entire life, and even attended HBCU Howard University. So anyone entertaining the notion that she somehow is not really Black is either misinformed or operating in bad faith.
Janet Jackson tells The Guardian that she heard Kamala Harris isn’t Black:
“Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian. […] Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days. I was… pic.twitter.com/9y6KheEBhR
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 21, 2024
As for Jackson, in an interview that was published on Saturday (Sept. 21), she told the Guardian. “Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
But when the writer told her that Harris was Black and Indian, she essentially doubled down on the ignorance, saying, “I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days. I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
For the record, Harris is 59 years old, meaning her daddy has been a known Black man for at least that long.
This is good…
Janet Jackson walked back her previous incorrect comments about Kamala’s Harris’s racial identity and admits they were based on misinformation.
Glad she did this. pic.twitter.com/speIBvlO0I
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) September 22, 2024
To add to the struggle, Jackson allegedly issued an apology on Sunday (Sept. 22) to Buzzfeed. However, her reps have since noted that the guy who provided that quote, Mo Elmasri, isn’t her manager as he claimed—so that mea culpa was not authorized. Also, Mr. Elmasri is now claiming he was fired by Jackson and Randy Jackson, with many pointing out that the latter has been known to believe conspiracy theories with his whole chest.
After making an unauthorized statement on behalf of Janet Jackson, Mo Elmasri claimed in an email sent to Variety that he was “fired” by the singer and her brother, Randy Jackson, “after attempts to improve her image in front of public opinion and her fans, and this is something… pic.twitter.com/4XVC9q6h0C
— Variety (@Variety) September 23, 2024
Man alive. Also, come on Randy.
WOW!
Janet Jackson’s representatives have contacted TMZ and stated that the man BuzzFeed quoted earlier today, claiming to be her manager and apologizing on her behalf, has no association with her, and that her only manager is her brother, Randy Jackson.
Janet is NOT walking… pic.twitter.com/GL4vvgq6v9
— Yashar Ali
(@yashar) September 22, 2024
Peep the reactions to Janet Jackson’s failure of the simplest of research in the gallery. Yes, Janet Jackson is icon, but she’s still going to catch this slander.
Dear White Folks In Media:
Pay attention to black folks calling out Janet Jackson for saying some stupid ass stuff about Kamala Harris. Even though she’s an icon she can still be called out for her actions. Like you refuse to do for Olivia Nuzzi. pic.twitter.com/QCQi3WnDDo— Sons of Killmonger & Disciple of Dark Brandon (@2Strong2Silence) September 21, 2024
The post Velvet Nope: Janet Jackson Amplifies Kamala Harris Missinformation, Black Xitter Disappointed appeared first on Hip-Hop Wired.
