The Ugly Truth Behind Janet Jackson’s Kamala Apology
Pop superstar's mea culpa stands in stark contrast to these celeb lies
We haven’t had a full-bodied “hostage”-style apology for a while.
We were overdue.
Superstar Janet Jackson did the honors this weekend, reminding us what happens when you challenge the approved “narrative.”
To be fair, Jackson got it wrong. For context, other stars have said far worse.
Jackson recently weighed in on Vice President Kamala Harris’ ethnicity in a chat with The Guardian.
“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 told that they discovered her father was white.”
Let’s be clear.
What she said is both wrong and irresponsible. The media pounced and/or seized on the misstep.
Jackson issued a mewling mea culpa hours later.
“She deeply respects Vice President Kamala Harris and her accomplishments as a Black and Indian woman. Janet apologizes for any confusion caused and acknowledges the importance of accurate representation in public discourse,” Elmasri told Buzzfeed in a statement. “We appreciate the opportunity to address this and will remain committed to promoting unity.”
Not only did Jackson apologize, she turned her public statement into a Harris/Walz bumper sticker. The apology alone wasn’t deemed sufficient. It rarely is.
Now, let’s take a step back.
How many other outrageous lies have been shared by celebrities in recent weeks? Let’s cite just two.
Actor John Leguizamo shared an older photograph of Donald Trump to suggest a bullet didn’t actually hit his ear during the July 13 attempt on the candidate’s life in Butler, Pa.
That’s a dumb, vicious lie.
More recently, Rosie O’Donnell insinuated Trump wasn’t hit by a bullet on that awful day. She also suggested Trump staged the assassination attempt and that his ear regrew like an octopus limb.
How are these two outrageous, fact-free statements different than what Jackson said? They’re all untrue. Each targets a presidential candidate. All came from popular entertainers.
Yet the media immediately made Jackson’s comment the equivalent of a four-alarm fire. The Jackson news cycle might linger longer than the second Trump assassination attempt.
The same media ignored Leguizamo and O’Donnell. Why? Two reasons.
Vice President Harris is running on an Identity Politics platform. She has few program initiatives to share. She rarely gives interviews. She’s reversed her position on multiple key issues without explaining why.
The Biden/Harris administration has been a debacle, so she can’t run on her record.
She’s an empty candidate hoping to run out the clock. But … she’s a Black-Indian Woman running for the White House. Just ask White Dudes for Harris alum Ben Stiller.
Actor Ben Stiller says he “wishes he was black” while urging people to vote for Kamala Harris during a “Comics For Kamala” fundraising call.
pic.twitter.com/1BdDAAfUVh— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) August 7, 2024
Jackson’s lie attacked that narrative, and it had to be addressed immediately.
The media doesn’t care, by contrast, if an entertainer lies about Trump. They actually prefer it, most likely. It gives them a breather from lying about Trump themselves. They do that a lot. John Nolte of Breitbart News keeps a running list, and it’s far from complete.
So the Leguizamo/O’Donnell lies inspired no fact checks. No outrage. No calls for the liars to apologize.
Move along. Nothing to see here.
And, if the media did cover either Trump lie, reporters would howl if the stars not only apologized but shared support for Trump.
That’s how the Media / Hollywood connection works in 2024. Jackson stepped on a rake of her own free will. The rest was the media doing what it does worst.
UPDATE: Jackson’s mea culpa may have sounded like boilerplate celebrity talk, but we’re learning it came from a party unaffiliated with the pop superstar.
Jackson said that the appology wasn’t endorsed by her.
She still stands by her original statement. I am guessing this article was before that happened.
So another person of color may be our next President with no ties to any US slavery except Obama had some connection via his white mother’s family who owned slaves back in pre-Civil War Kansas. And American blacks fall them simply because of skin color. BTW – is Harris even American? At the time of her birth, weren’t her parents here on student visas and wasn’t she born before the concept of anchor babies was (unfortunately) established? As for her mother, high caste Indian – yeah – about as middle class as Obama attended public schools in Hawaii.
Forget the debate as to whether her Jamaican father is black or not. The family operated a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica. Her father’s family owned black slaves in one of the most brutal places slavery was practiced.
She ain’t black, she ain’t middle class, she’s the HR lady that’s either going to outsource your job or have security walk you out because you used the wrong pronouns.
She just like Obama starts with a lie. It’s a simple answer, “ I am of mixed race.” Truthful and to the point. Then the follow up of “ Here is what I can do for you.” She has no answer for that do she has to lie about the first statement.
It’s still a lie – her father, while from Jamaica is still of Indian descent. She is Indian, period.
Janet Jackson is still alive?
Kamala Harris’ father is Indian Irish (India) her mother was 100% Indian (India) just because her father was born in Jamaica does not make him black, there are many different races in Jamaica that live and are born there. Jamaican is not a race, Jamaica is a country and not a race. Kamala Harris needs to take a DNA test just like Elizabeth Warren had to do after claiming for decades she was Native American Indian, the DNA test proved Elizabeth Warren is not Native American and I bet you dollars to donuts that a DNA test would come back showing Kamala Harris is not black. Look at Kamala Harris’ complexion, it is just like a person of India, compare Kamala Harris to Indians (India) and she matches all the characteristics of a person of Indian (India) heritage. By the way many Indian (India) people are darker skin toned than Kamala Harris is.
I get it India likely does not want any connection with Kamala Harris but the facts are the facts. DNA test or Kamala Harris must stop claiming to be black and you even have people calling her African American which is a total 1000% lie.
Her father definitely has African ancestry. Caribbean blacks came to the West on slave ships just as US blacks did.
Biden told us he was only picking a VP based on skin color and gender. Any black woman would do, she just happened to be the nearest one at the time.
The only other choice was congenital liar Stacey Abrams.
And Kamala isn’t?
Identity politics is all Harris has going for her. DEI affirmative action hire, Biden said so himself.
I don’t care what ethnicity she is – she’s incompetent.