Yahoo Lifestyle Whoopi Goldberg Reacts To Janet Jackson Echoing False Claims About Kamala Harris' Race
Whoopi Goldberg thinks people should give Janet Jackson “a little grace” over incorrect claims the singer recently repeated about Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
During a Monday segment of “The View,” the daytime talk-show moderator defended the music icon, who basically questioned the Democratic nominee’s Blackness during an interview with The Guardian published over the weekend.
“Janet Jackson is not a political animal,” Goldberg said before noting that the singer is also mourning for her brother Tito Jackson, who died last week.
“Sometimes people get it wrong, and they’re wrong. They made a mistake, they were wrong. It happens,” the moderator continued, adding, “We all do it.”
“So, OK, a little grace for the girl. A little grace for the girl,” Goldberg said about the “Rhythm Nation” artist.
Jackson came under fire on social media after she was quoted telling a Guardian reporter that she’d heard Harris is “not Black” after the singer was asked to share her thoughts on the vice president potentially becoming the first Black female president.
“That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” Jackson said.
Then when the reporter, Nosheen Iqbal, pointed out that Harris is, in fact, both Black and South Asian, the singer responded, “Her father’s white. That’s what I was told.”
“I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she said. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
Harris is the daughter of two immigrant parents. Her mother was born in India and her father, who’s Black, was born in Jamaica.
During Donald Trump’s contentious appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in July, the former president falsely accused Harris of not identifying as Black until a few years ago.
The Republican nominee said at the time that Harris “happened to turn Black” in recent years, suggesting that the vice president was newly using her Black identity for political gain.
Trump’s lie about Harris’ Black identity has spurred right-wing conspiracy theoriesabout Harris’ identity.
Representatives for Jackson have since said that a man who claimed to be Jackson’s manager was not authorized to speak on her behalf when he issued an apology tied to her controversial remarks about Harris.
Jackson has yet to publicly address her comments.
Ana Navarro, another co-host of “The View,” said on Monday’s episode that she believed Jackson “carelessly” used her platform to spread misinformation.
“I think it’s very irresponsible when you have a platform the way Janet Jackson does,” she said.
