Janet Jackson stirred up major controversy over the weekend following the release of her interview with The Guardian. The statement that grabbed the most attention was her claim that she’d heard Kamala Harris was “not Black.” “Well, you know what they supposedly said?” Jackson remarked. “She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.” She also mentioned hearing that Harris’ father was “white.” The reporter swiftly corrected her, explaining that Harris’ mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican.
She was also asked what she thought of the election. Jackson stated that she believed there would be “mayhem” whichever way the elections went.
Jackson whispers on stage, “I don’t know.” “Honestly, I’m not going to answer because I honestly, do not know.” “I think that either way, it’s going to be chaos.”
This made many people and the media lose their minds. There were a lot of articles that called her out for comment. She was attacked by people such as DL Hughley.
#JanetJacksons interview sounded like a #Trump rally! FYI!! It’s a little ironic to question whether someone is black while you’re breathing through the nose of a white woman! #TeamDl
— DL Hughley (@RealDLHughley) September 22, 2024
#JanetJacksons’ interview sounded just like a rally for #Trump! FYI!! You can’t question if someone is black when you are breathing through a woman’s nose! #TeamDl
That’s an awful comment. Hughley was criticized by many blacks for defending Jackson.
Normally, in such a case, you would call for a cancellation and then apologize to avoid being canceled.
It didn’t work out that way with Ms. Jackson.
There was an apparent “apology” first.
Buzzfeed reported on Sunday that Jackson’s manager Mo Elmasri released a press release stating her comments “were based on misinformation”, rather than her real thoughts about Harris.
The statement said, “She deeply respects Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, and her achievements as a Black Indian woman.” “Janet apologizes to anyone who was confused and acknowledges that accurate representation is important in public discourse.”
The statement concluded, “We are grateful for the opportunity to speak out on this issue and we will continue to promote unity.”
Then came another report claiming that Jackson was not retracting her remarks. Jackson’s representatives said that Randy, her brother, was her manager and not the person who spoke. According to The Daily Beast, the reps claimed that Elmasri had no authority to speak for Jackson and was unrelated to her. However, he is listed as her manager on IMDB. It sounds like she’s not going to change her mind about what she said, no matter the truth of the manager’s story.
According to The Daily Beast, Elmasri now claims that she fired him.
“Janet Jackson fired me due to disagreements between me, her, and Randy after she met with the Guardian and her unbalanced statements,” Mo Elmasri told the Daily Beast in an emailed statement.
“That’s it,” he said. He said that he couldn’t “receive telephone calls due to the high number of calls” and added, “All my support to Kamala.”
Sounds like Jackson did not agree with his statement.
