Janet Jackson Faces Backlash After Spreading False Claims About Kamala Harris' Heritage
Janet Jackson is facing significant backlash after making false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris's racial background in a recent interview with The Guardian to promote her recent endeavors. The singer spoke about Harris possibly becoming the first Black woman to be elected president. “Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” she said.
When the reporter corrected her, stating that Harris is both, Jackson falsely claimed, “Her father’s White. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days. I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
This claim is untrue. Kamala Harris’ father, Donald J. Harris, is a Jamaican immigrant who studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, immigrated from India, and the two met at Berkeley during their studies.
In the same interview, Jackson also expressed doubt about whether the U.S. is ready for a woman of color to become president. "I don’t know," she continued. "Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem. I think there might be mayhem. Either way it goes, but we’ll have to see."
On the heels of the backlash, an individual named Mo Elmasri claims he was fired after issuing an unauthorized statement on behalf of Jackson. Representatives for the 58-year-old singer clarified that she had not approved any apology related to the matter, according to The Daily Beast.
“Janet Jackson fired me due to disagreements between me, her, and [brother and manager] Randy [Jackson,] after her meeting with the Guardian and her unbalanced statements,' Elmasri told the outlet in in an email. 'That’s all I can say.'
The "All for You" hitmaker's recent remarks mirror the misinformation spread by Harris' Republican opponent, Donald Trump. In July, Trump told the National Association of Black Journalists that Harris “happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black." The former president reiterated this claim during a recent debate, stating, "I read that she was Black. Then I read that she was not Black."
