As more celebrities step forward with vocal support of the Black Lives Matter movement, some non-black allies are finding themselves entangled in controversy. Famed model and actress Emily Ratajkowski has been quite vocal about her support of BLM in recent days, and she wrote on Instagram that with everything going on, she felt "so useless." BET’s style director Danielle Prescod gave her a bit of advice and it had to do with Emily Ratajkowski's husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard.
“I actually have an idea. You could start by talking to your husband, a white man, who has used the n-word repeatedly in my presence. So much so that another black friend was so disgusted she left. Another black woman had the same exact experience," Prescod wrote. "You probably have never seen this behavior. I would like you to address the issues in your home and then you can help us out here. I would like you to ask him what he can do differently … I mean this with the utmost sincerity. It was hurtful and abusive."
Bear-McClard took to Twitter to acknowledge the allegations against him and to issue an apology to anyone he's offended. The Uncut Gems producer stated, "I used a word casually like it was mine to use. It’s not, it never was, and never will be. In the past few years I’ve learned a lot about my privilege as a man and as a white person and about the history of racism in this country. Owning our misteps is a crucial part of changing the way the world operates. I’m embarrassed and ashamed and I sincerely apologize to everyone who I may have hurt.”
Later, Prescod told Page Six that it wasn't her intention to publicly shame Emily Ratajkowski or her husband, but if non-black allies are going to address their followers on how to end racism or racist behavior, they should first focus on what's going on inside of their own homes.
[via]