Five-time Grammy award-winning singer Janet Jackson’s comments concerning the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris have led to an “unauthorized” apology and confusion. In an interview with The Guardian published Saturday, Sept. 21, reporter Nosheen Iqbal asked the “Rhythm Nation” singer about her family, her career, and the Super Bowl incident, but it was Jackson’s response about the upcoming election that has garnered the most attention.
The reporter said she told Jackson that America could be on the verge of voting in its first Black female president, Kamala Harris.
According to the report, Jackson responded, “Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
“Well, she’s both,” Iqbal replied.
“Her father’s white. That’s what I was told,” Jackson said. “I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days. I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
The vice president’s racial identity has been questioned before — most notably by Donald Trump, Harris’ opponent in the presidential election, when the former president visited with the National Association of Black Journalists at the group’s convention in Chicago in July.
“Sir, do you believe Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she’s a Black woman?” ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked.
“Well, no, I think maybe it’s a little bit different,” Trump said. “I’ve known her a long time indirectly and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know is she Indian or she is Black? I respect either one.”
Trump was asked about those comments during the ABC News presidential debate earlier this month.
“Why do you believe it’s appropriate to weigh in on the racial identity of your opponent?” ABC News’ David Muir asked.
“I don’t, and I don’t care. I don’t care what she is. I don’t care,” Trump said. “You make a big deal out of something. I couldn’t care less. Whatever she wants to be is OK with me.”
Harris, who was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, has long publicly identified as being both Black and Indian.
“I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people,” Harris said in response to Trump’s answer.
The Guardian’s report refers to Harris’ own words from her book “The Truths We Hold,” in which the vice president said after her father left when she was 5, “My mother understood very well that she was raising two Black daughters.”
After Jackson’s words about Kamala Harris started popping up across the internet, Buzzfeed published what appeared to be an apology letter from Jackson’s manager, a man named Mo Elmasri.
The statement read, in part, “Janet Jackson would like to clarify her recent comments. She recognizes that her statements regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity were based on misinformation. Janet respects Harris’ dual heritage as both Black and Indian and apologizes for any confusion caused.”
But that’s not the end of the story, because after that apology was published by multiple outlets, representatives for Janet Jackson alerted Variety that the apology was “unauthorized” and Mo Elmasri is not the singer’s manager.
Variety reported Janet Jackson has been managed by her brother Randy for many years, but they have been unavailable for comment about The Guardian fallout since the siblings are mourning the loss of their older brother Tito, who recently passed away.
Meanwhile, in an email to The Daily Beast, Elmasri wrote he was fired by Janet Jackson and her brother Randy due to disagreements over The Guardian story and Jackson’s “unbalanced statements.” He added that could not receive phone calls for further comment because of the large number of calls he’s receiving, but added, “All support to Kamala Harris.”
He gave a similar response to Variety, saying he was fired by Janet Jackson “after attempts to improve her image in front of public opinion and her fans, and this is something I do not deserve.”
Variety reported that sources close to Jackson’s team said Elmasri is not known to have been directly associated with the singer.
The comments Jackson made about Kamala Harris were not her only ones concerning the upcoming election.
When asked by The Guardian if she thinks America is ready for a woman with Harris’ dual heritage in office, Jackson responded, “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem.”
