Last weekend, Janet Jackson made the false accusation that presidential hopeful Kamala Harris is “not Black,” claiming that she is actually “Indian.” Rather than condemning the artist for spreading misinformation, like many of her co-hosts on The View, Whoopi Goldberg sympathized with her, saying “we all do it.” Keep reading for more information.
Janet Jackson Makes False Allegations About Kamala Harris
On Saturday, The Guardian published an interview with Janet Jackson, and she and the interviewer stumbled upon the topic of the 2024 presidential election. When the interviewed pointed out that America is "on the verge of voting in its first black female president," Jackson responded with a sweep of misinformation.
"Well, you know what they supposedly said?" Jackson asked. "She's not black. That's what I heard. That she's Indian." After being told that Harris is in fact both Black and Indian, Jackson continued with the false claims. "Her father's white," she said. "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." Kamala Harris' father is a Jamaican economist and Stanford professor who split from Harris' Indian mother when Harris was five.
Whoopi Goldberg Defends Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson's claims became the topic of conversation for the co-hosts of The View. While Whoopi Goldberg said that people should give the "Nasty" singer "a little grace," her co-hosts had other ideas. Sunny Hostin didn't even want to talk about it, saying she "doesn't want to give it this much air."
Alyssa Farah Griffin said, "My guess is she's not looking at great sources of media," and Ana Navarro agreed, saying Jackson was "spreading misinformation" and that she "has a phone," implying she could simply look up accurate information.
Navarro continued, saying, "She’s got every right to not like Kamala Harris if she doesn’t want to. What she did was spread misinformation, and I think it’s very irresponsible when you have a platform the way Janet Jackson does to use that platform carelessly."
However, Goldberg stepped in to defend the pop stay, saying "Hold on, hold on, yeah she’s got a phone – Janet Jackson is not a political animal. She’s a musician, her life is doing this, and she’s mourning her brother." Jackson's brother, Tito, recently passed away at the age of 70.
"They made a mistake, they were wrong, it happens [and] anybody who says it doesn't happen to everyone one of us, multiracial or not, we all do it. So, a little grace for the girl."
