Jeannie Mai has been forced to respond to xenophobic insults aimed at her and her boyfriend Jeezy after trolls warned the rapper not to get coronavirus, which began spreading in China, after attending a New York Fashion Week event. Jeannie Mai, whose parents are of Vietnamese and Chinese heritage, addressed the comments on a new episode of The Real, hoping to combat any misinformation about the virus in doing so.
The daytime talk show host discussed the "hurtful" things that people have been saying to her and Jeezy since they stepped out at NYFW, using the opportunity to also speak on how the virus has brought xenophobia to the forefront nationwide. "I also heard that there are schools that are considering to quarantine Asian kids because they just want to keep it safe," said Mai. "I just want to say, we know that misinformation coupled with fear leads to xenophobia, right? Xenophobia is a deep-rooted fear against foreigners. So, we just got to do better and know that when it comes to yourself, educate yourself so that you don’t give life to fear."
Jeannie Mai followed that up by walking into the audience and giving hugs to the women and men who showed out to watch them talk live, attempting to erase any false narrative attached to herself and the virus.
Watch her full statement below.