Janet Jackson blew up her career with a MAGA-backed conspiracy theory & her queer fans aren’t coping well
The Guardian published a profile of trailblazing pop icon Janet Jackson, framed as a comeback as she readies the European leg of her “Together Again” tour.And though the wide-ranging interview covers everything from her influence on the younger generation of pop stars to the fallout of the infamous “nipplegate” Super Bowl scandal to the unending swirl of controversies surrounding her late superstar brother Michael, all anyone can talk about are her unexpected and alarming comments about VP Kamala Harris, who very well could become the first Black female president.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.“Well, you know what they supposedly said?,” Jackson posed to journalist Nosheen Iqbal. “She’s not Black.
That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian… Her father’s white. That’s what I was told.”Wait, what? Did Jackson just parrot the MAGA-backed—and obviously debunked—conspiracy theory that Harris only recently “became a Black person” (Trump’s words)?Even after the journalist politely stated that Harris is of dual heritage—her father is Jamaican, her mother Indian—and re-phrased the question, Jackson only doubled down, adding that she hadn’t “watched the news in a few days.”apparently janet jackson lives under a rock pic.twitter.com/MhFEWa8lmu https://t.co/MHmLnCAy0lOnce published, the quotes became the talk of the internet, prompting anger, confusion, and a number of pleas for the performer to get herself informed.
Is this really the Janet Jackson we all know all love? The one who has long been a major proponent of social justice causes through her life and music, and who’s been a strident LGBTQ+ ally?
Whose landmark album The Velvet Rope directly addressed homophobia, spawned the single “Together Again” in memory of those lost to AIDS, and even won a GLAAD media award?It’s not like she flat-out endorsed Trump and his party’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, but questioning the legitimacy of Harris’s.
