Janet Jackson’s team has denied issuing an apology for her remarks claiming Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is “not Black.”
A rep for the “All For You” songstress told People Sunday evening that an earlier statement shared by Mo Elmasri, who claimed to be Jackson’s manager, was unauthorized.
Her rep told the outlet that Elmasri is not the singer’s manager, nor does that person represent her in any capacity. Randy Jackson is her manager.
Elmasri claimed in the unapproved statement that Janet was apologizing for her comments on Harris’ racial identity, which were “based on misinformation.”
The “Feedback” hitmaker, 58, came under scrutiny after questioning Harris’ race during an interview with the Guardian published on Saturday.
When the pop star was asked about her thoughts on Americans voting for the first Black female presidential nominee, Janet said of Harris, “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
… To be completely fair… She had no say over her brother’s situation, and I have even heard it said that Michael was suffering from vitiligo, which spurred his skin bleaching because it was producing a very mottled effect… But yeah, IDK, I do not follow Janet closely or anything.
I just do not see her as responsible for what her brother did, and do not think I can really have an opinion on what her brother did because the motive may have been completely benign. There is even something to be said about Michael Jackson eventually coming to terms with his own relationship with his race and what that may have meant for him.
A mega-rich popstar not even being satisfied with being black and later understanding his internalized racism is quite a story, if true.
I think you missed my point. She would know firsthand her brother was suffering from vitiligo and thus “looked” white and people started questioning if he was black anymore. And here she goes judging Harris in a similar way to how people judged her brother.
Thats why I was saying that she of all people should know what that’s like.
OK, that’s interesting, I see…!
You could say, though, that Michael Jackson is very undeniably a historic black American who suffered through living in poverty in a poor area and partly lived through the civil rights movement, though he was quite young… He was an ambassador for black Americans even if he did not want to be.
This is a radically different experience than what Kamala had, and who am I to judge black Americans who feel that being a black American person requires some connection to that world…?