Rebel Wilson Blasted as 'Tone Deaf' for Black Lives Matter Joke at MTV VMA Show
Australian-born comedienne Rebel Wilson is under fire for using the stage at the TV Video Music Awards to joke about the growing Black Lives Matter anti-police brutality movement.
According to the New York Daily News, called upon to present the much coveted award for best hip-hop video award, the 35-year-old "Pitch Perfect" star instead made headlines with a skit dismissively tying the movement with the plight of strippers everywhere who might also be victimized by police.
"A lot of people have problems with the police," said Wilson, draped in a cop costume. "But I really hate police strippers." To prove her point, she then stripped down to reveal a "F*ck Tha Stripper Police" T-shirt.
She later added, "They come to your house. You think you're getting arrested, and you just get a lap dance that is usually uninspired."
Wilson went on to joke that she once hired a police stripper from her grandma's 80th birthday, but the "erotic back massage" only lasted for one song, thus justifying her wearing the shirt.
Wilson's act only drew a tepid reaction from the VMA crowd, but among Black Lives Matter activists, it immediately set off a firestorm, with members criticizing her "tone deaf humor" as being disrespectful to the memories of young black men senselessly killed by police.
".@RebelWilson/@MTV, police violence isn't a joke, as the deaths of #TamirRice, #RekiaBoyd, #FreddieGray, #MikeBrown, & #MyaHall remind us," wrote civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson on Twitter. "If the police kill someone you love, would it be a funny joke, then?"
Currently, the 30-year-old Mckesson is a founding member of the We The Protesters organization. He has also worked extensively with the Black Lives Matter movement, which has come to be a direct response to the increasing number of instances of police brutality where young, black men were victimized.
"When's the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook, or Columbine joke at an awards show," quizzed Mckesson. "Exactly."
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com