The 'Wrinkle in Time' director slams the rapper and the R&B singer for their recent comments that disrespect the victims of historical race crimes.
- May 3, 2018
AceShowbiz - Kanye West and R. Kelly have been accused of "evoking racial terrorism" for their own ends by director Ava DuVernay. West stunned fans and stars on Tuesday, May 1 by saying 400 years of black slavery "sounds like a choice" in an interview with TMZ.com, while Kelly's representatives responded to Time's Up activists' campaign against him over allegations of sexual misconduct by comparing their calls for label and venue bosses to drop him to an "attempted lynching."
"The Wrinkle In Time" director, who is a member of the Time's Up Women of Color committee that issued a statement condemning the R&B star on Monday, slammed the pair for their statements in a pair of furious tweets that condemned them for disrespecting the victims of historical race crimes.
"I've had it with @KanyeWest + @RKelly using the imagery of lynching as rebuttals re: their dastardly behavior," she wrote above several pictures of memorials to lynching victims. "Evoking racial terrorism and murder for personal gain/blame is stratospheric in is audacity and ignorance. This is what lynching looked like. How dare they?"
I’ve had it with @KanyeWest + @RKelly using the imagery of lynching as rebuttals re: their dastardly behavior. Evoking racial terrorism and murder for personal gain/blame is stratospheric in is audacity and ignorance. This is what lynching looked like. How dare they? pic.twitter.com/wfobcdjiKL
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 2, 2018
In a follow-up tweet she added, "Shame on you, @kanyewest + @rkelly. If you want to have a REAL conversation about lynching, get at me. Until then, have some respect and dignity for the dead. The murdered. You've gone beyond embarrassing yourselves. You're both in territory that you don't REALLY want to be in."
Shame on you, @kanyewest + @rkelly. If you want to have a REAL conversation about lynching, get at me. Until then, have some respect and dignity for the dead. The murdered. You’ve gone beyond embarrassing yourselves. You’re both in territory that you don’t REALLY want to be in. pic.twitter.com/LXci0F0umc
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 2, 2018
DuVernay is among a number of stars and activists who have demanded Kelly be dropped by bosses at Spotify, Apple, his record label and venues he's booked for gigs due to allegations he has coerced young women, including an underage girl, into sexually abusive relationships. John Legend, a friend of West who sent text messages asking the rapper to reconsider his support for America's controversial president Donald Trump, retweeted Ava's comments.
The "Gold Digger" rapper was also called out by "The Wire" actor Wendell Pierce, who urged him to educate himself on slavery by visiting museums, and memorials dedicated to lynching victims.
