Racism has been a global issue since the beginning of time, still existing in the year of 2021. In today’s society, the black community more often depend upon celebrities to broadcast black issues. With social media, racist antics or killings are caught on camera and published to the public, such as the George Floyd murder. Due to celebrities usually having worldwide connections, fans want them to stand for and support the black community. They would also like them to stand up and denounce the actions of those committing crimes against blacks, such as the police. In some cases celebrities do take a stand and in some they don’t – until they are affected.
In 2018, comedian and oscar winning actress Mo’Nique broadcasted to the world about her issue with streaming media platform, Netflix. She stated that when making a deal with them they offered her 500,000 dollars for a comedy special. While they offered comedians Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock, and Amy Schumer millions of dollars for their comedy specials. She then proceeded to ask the public to boycott Netflix for gender bias and discmination on her behalf due to offering her such a low amount of money. Last year, Mo’Nique was granted permission to go forward with her lawsuit against Netflix which is still continuing in 2021.
While last year in 2020, reality TV star NeNe Leakeas urged supporters to sign a petition to boycott Bravo. After leaving hit reality TV show “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Leakes expressed about misconduct behind the scenes of the show. Also, ways in which African American stars were treated compared to the Caucasian stars like Teresa Giudice.
This year in late January and early February, boxer Floyd Mayweather made two posts, one about UFC fighter, Conor McGregor, and one about YouTuber, Jake Paul. He screenshotted and posted an image of himself and McGregor with it noting the hypocrisy between both Maywather and McGregor. In the eyes of boxing and UFC fans say both fighters have the same personality and marketing techniques. Though they are similar, Mayweather is hated and judged while Mcgregor is admired for his actions. McGregor has gone as far as attacking opponents wifes and religions such as fighter Khabib and his wife. Floyd Mayweather made it be known that racism exists and plays a major role in the hypocrisy you see between the two fighters. He then began to attack McGregor for his character that he enacts during conferences to sell his fights much like Mayweather. A week later he attacked YouTuber Jake Paul for a similar reason after Paul said that he doesn’t participate in “exhibitions.” In the midst of doing so he brought up racism in the past that affected black people such as not being able to read. He then went on to point out that everything Jake Paul embodies comes from black culture such as style in clothing, jewelry, dancing, and more. He then ended the post stating Paul is nothing, but a fake fighter which in a way is true.
As for NeNe Leakes and Floyd Mayweather I agree with the messages they were spreading because they have facts to them. Bravo has been known to treat black castmates differently from those that are Caucasian though some of them have committed crimes. Also, some castmates on the “Real Housewives” franchise have said racist stuff on and off the show, but still were able to be on the show. Sports has always had racism though most sports are dominated by black men gathering billions of dollars yearly. To me McGregor has always been more controversial than Mayweather though the same people who like him dislike Mayweather. Race does more than likely play a more role in that hypocritical situation though many deny it. I do commend Leakes and Mayweather for speaking up, but both of them are more often quite when black issues erupt. Leakes has posted pictures of victims such as Ahmad Aubrey and attended marches for police brutality. She only spoke up when it was trendy, her energy other than that never went to black issues though now she wants the black community to stick up for her issues. Many times people have begged Mayweather to speak on black issues, but he claims that is not his lane. He never really spoke upon black issues though he does participate in certain events behind the scenes. Also, he did pay for victim, George Floyd, funerals that benefited his family very much. Other than that Mayweather is usually silent and doesn’t say anything especially on social media. Finally he acknowledges racism, but only when it pertains to him which is kind of hypocritical in itself.
While Mo’Nique on the other hand is a different story for multiple reasons one being Mo’Nique didn’t state all of the facts when it came to the Netflix deal. She stated the facts that came after the initial deal, but didn’t say them because it would have hurt her argument. To add on, she wanted people to boycott a streaming service that some people struggle to pay for each month. Some people don’t make 500,000 dollars their whole lifetime, but she wanted people to boycott the service because she didn’t receive enough money. Her argument didn’t seem genuine to me instead it seemed extremely selfish. Soon after that she even defended comedian Roseanne Barr after her racist remark about Valeria Jarrett. Much like Leakes and Mayweather, Mo’Niques never spoke on black issues until recently when it became a trend. She is from Baltimore where blacks face racism and live in neighborhoods that are not being funded including schools. She never speaks on such issues and I didnt know she was from Blatimore until I looked her up. People who stay silent will eventually need support.
As a black woman I never look to celebrities to speak on black issues because that is not what they signed up for. Their job is entertaining and I respect them, but when they do speak up I do appreciate it because they don’t have to do such a thing. My pet peeve is those that say they aren’t advocates and won’t speak on black issues, but only say something once they are affected. I would just like consistency which these three have not really shown.