At the BET Awards Sunday night, actor Jesse Williams said this:
“We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment… ghetto-lyzing and demeaning our creations, then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is — just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real,” Williams said.
Justin Timberlake applauded:
@iJesseWilliams tho…#Inspired #BET2016
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
At that point, the backlash started:
So does this mean you're going to stop appropriating our music and culture? And apologize to Janet too. #BETAwards https://t.co/0FwBOQR24D
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) June 27, 2016
Did you like the part when Jesse talked about white people stealing from us? That should resonate with you.
— sockruhtese (@sockruhtese) June 27, 2016
As much as I love you… Jesse was talking about you.
— Kristie (@kristiebass) June 27, 2016
but he was talking about you though
— Brandon (@bdavis06516) June 27, 2016
He was describing you to a "T". Gentrifying our genius indeed…
— Cool Auntie Joyce??? (@jtp4eva) June 27, 2016
The response?
https://twitter.com/jtimberlake/status/747276674073395200
Timberlake later apologized to those who took offense:
I feel misunderstood. I responded to a specific tweet that wasn't meant to be a general response. I shouldn't have responded anyway…
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I forget this forum sometimes… I was truly inspired by @iJesseWilliams speech because I really do feel that we are all one… A human race
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US.
–JT
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
Michelle Malkin knows what’ll happen — or won’t happen as the case may be:
Justin Timberlake feeling the backlash of militant identity politics–but he'll still stay loyal to the Left. https://t.co/VOpeiUx2Lj
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) June 27, 2016
Without a doubt.
Fun to watch entertainment libs try to navigate the insanity of the radicals with whom they try to ally.
— Rich Burns (@richburnssotex) June 27, 2016
Pass the popcorn.