The View host Whoopi Goldberg fiercely defended Janet Jackson during Monday’s episode of the ABC daytime show as she urged critics to give the singer “a little grace” after she claimed Vice President Kamala Harris is not Black.
Jackson, 58, made the shocking claim in an interview with The Guardianwhen asked about his feelings about the possibility of the United States having its first black female president.
Things then got heated on The View panel when Ana Navarro accused the superstar of “spreading misinformation,” while Sunny Hostin said she “doesn’t want to give him that much airtime,” but Whoopi, 68, was having none of it.
When Ana, 52, sarcastically suggested that Jackson “has a phone,” Whoopi replied: “Wait, wait, yeah, he has a phone. Janet Jackson is not a political animal. She’s a musician, her life is doing this and she’s mourning her brother,” in reference to the recent death of Tito Jackson.
The Sister Act star continued: ‘Sometimes I’ve said things and I’ve been wrong, but people want you to say something straight away. But when people come up to you and say, “Hey, you’re dumb, you don’t know…”, you know, you don’t want to answer them and it’s a bummer, I have to tell you.
Whoopi Goldberg (left) has fiercely defended Janet Jackson (right) and her comments about Vice President Kamala Harris
Jackson said Harris is not black when asked about the presidential candidate in a recent interview.
“Sometimes people make mistakes and they make mistakes. They made a mistake, they made a mistake, it happens (and) anyone who says it doesn’t happen to all of us, whether we’re multiracial or not, we all do it. So, a little grace for the girl, a little grace for the girl, okay?”
However, Ana was quick to point out that Jackson herself has not come forward to say that she “made a mistake” and argued: “We don’t know what she said, it was one thing and another.
“I think Janet Jackson, like any other American, whether a celebrity or not, has the right to support or not support whoever she wants. She has every right to not like Kamala Harris if she doesn’t want to.”
‘But that’s not what she said!’ Whoopi responded, while Anna continued: ‘No, what she did was spread misinformation and I think it’s very irresponsible when you have a platform like Janet Jackson has, to carelessly use that platform to spread misinformation based on a racist allegation of Donald Trump, right?’
‘It was Donald Trump who tried to say that Kamala Harris just turned black. So, let’s go over the main points: Kamala Harris is the daughter of two immigrants. Her mother is South Asian, from India, her father is black, from Jamaica. Here’s a picture for everyone who needs it… or for Mrs. Jackson, if it’s disgusting, here’s the damn picture!’
Sara Haines was eager to share her thoughts and referenced the “identity issue” when she said, “The fastest growing group in this country is multiracial individuals, not bi, multiracial individuals, so asking people, ‘what are you? ’ My biracial friends always struggled with not being white enough or not being black enough and they always fell in the middle.
“The world is moving towards the centre, so we need to be more open about people’s identities and how they identify, and have some grace,” the 46-year-old fumed.
Sunny, 55, added: ‘Well, I think you have a right to identify yourself and, being one of the multiracial people here at the table, I will say this: I would handle this the way Kamala Harris has, which is by not making a big deal out of it.
Ana Navarro accused Jackson of spreading ‘disinformation’ while defending Harris
Sunny Hostin (left) called Jackson’s comments “unfortunate” as her co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin (right) looked on.
Vice President Harris identifies as Black because her mother is South Asian and her father is from Jamaica.
‘I think Kamala is breaking barriers just by being in the room, regardless of whether Janet Jackson thinks she’s black, white or Indian, the mere fact that she’s in the room deconstructs, in my opinion, the societal norms that we’ve seen in almost 250 years of this country about what a presidential candidate looks like.
“And I think that’s what matters the most and I also think that when you’re biracial or multiracial, you can identify however you choose. She has now identified as a black woman. She has also said that her mother is Asian, she didn’t become black out of nowhere.
‘And so it’s unfortunate that Janet Jackson, an icon, admits, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t been reading the news these last few days.’ So I don’t know if it’s due to misinformation. I don’t know if it’s due to lack of information, but all I know is that I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.’
Asked about the possibility of Harris becoming the first black president, Jackson told The Guardian: “Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.
“His father is white. That’s what they told me. I mean, I haven’t watched the news for a few days. They told me they found out his father was white.”
Whoopi pictured with Janet Jackson during an episode of The View in February 2020
In his interview with The Guardian, Jackson admitted that he hadn’t “watched the news in several days.”
In response to a whirlwind of criticism and disappointment, a new twist was introduced in the saga when a man named Mo Elmasri claimed that Jackson’s manager “apologized” on his behalf, but it turns out that this statement was unauthorized.
The statement was first issued to Source: BuzzFeed and read: ‘She deeply respects Vice President Kamala Harris and her accomplishments as a Black and Indian woman.
‘Janet apologizes for any confusion caused and recognizes the importance of accurate representation in public discourse.’
However, hours later, Jackson’s management said an unauthorized person had spoken on the singer’s behalf and told him Variety that the widely reported statement came from someone other than the Grammy-winning artist’s manager.