Janet Jackson received backlash after The Guardian published an interview where the award-winning singer said she was previously informed Vice President Kamala Harris’ father is White, though that is not the case as he’s Black.
In the wake of the backlash, EGOT winner and The View host, Whoopi Goldberg, came to the defense of Jackson when the topic came up on the talk show, saying that the singer should be given a “little grace.”
Goldberg, 68, said she has similarly shared false information before, but “people want you to say something right away.” “But when people are coming at you saying, ‘hey, you’re dumb, you don’t know…’ you know, you don’t want to answer people and it is a pain in the butt, I have to tell you,” the Sister Act star explained.
“Sometimes people get it wrong and they’re wrong! They made a mistake, they were wrong. It happens,” she continued. “Anybody who says it doesn’t happen to every one of us, multiracial or not, we all do it. So okay, a little grace for the girl. A little grace for the girl.”
But Ana Navarro was not sympathetic as she said Jackson, 58, “spread misinformation,” per Variety. “Look, I think Janet Jackson — like every other American, whether you’re a celebrity or not — has a right to endorse, support, or not support whomever they want,” Navarro said.
“She’s got every right to not like Kamala Harris if she wants 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, to spread misinformation based on a racist allegation by Donald Trump.”
Jackson in the interview with The Guardian had touched on the vice president’s racial identity when she was asked about Harris potentially becoming the first Black female president of the United States.
“Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” Jackson said. And though the interviewer subsequently told Jackson that Harris is “both” Black and Indian, the That’s the Way Love Goes singer responded, “Her father’s white.”
“That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she added. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
Following her comments, an individual claiming to be Jackson’s manager issued an apology on her behalf. But the singer’s team later told Variety that the statement from that individual was unauthorized.