INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘The Wendy Williams Show’ May Lose Important Sponsor Because She Dared Challenge Sacred Cows [Video]

By Sheri Oz
Published on: 08:10 PST, Jul 10, 2016

https://youtu.be/G80fNfyV4q8

Will The Wendy Williams Show recover from the loss of an important sponsor resulting from her insulting remarks about HBCUs and the NAACP? B. Scott received exclusive information that Chevrolet has dropped the show. According to them, The Wendy Williams Show signed a contract in April with Chevrolet to promote the 2016 Chevy Malibu for the rest of the year. Chevrolet has not yet confirmed or denied dropping their sponsorship.

According to Madame Noire, Williams, known for openly speaking her mind, often gets flak from celebrities. The Inquisitr reported on viewer outrage at her remarks, and now her sponsorship is in danger. But is this justified?

Wendy came out against the HBCUs, the historically black colleges and universities, and the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“On the other hand, I would be really offended if there was a school that was known as a historically white college. We have historically black colleges. What if there was the National Organization for White People, only? There’s the NAACP…. One wrong word, I know. I’m choosing my words carefully, but what I’m saying is: racism sucks, you know. And we could all do better in our own households.”

Wendy Williams did not just pick a topic out of thin air. She was responding to Jesse Williams’ BET (Black Entertainment Television) Humanitarian Award acceptance speech. In his speech, Jesse talked about racism, the disproportional killings of blacks by police officers, and the exploitation of black talent. Wendy described the controversy that arose after his speech, with some people calling for Jesse to be fired from his role in Grey’s Anatomy, an idea that was rejected by the show’s producers.

Jesse Williams used the opportunity of the awards ceremony to talk about racism in the current stressful situation in the United States.

“There has been no war that we have not fought and died in the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There’s no tax they haven’t levied against us. And we pay all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. ‘You’re free,’ they keep telling us. ‘But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so… free.’ Now, freedom is always coming… in the hereafter. But the hereafter is a hustle; we want it now.”

Jesse went on to chide bystanders.

“The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job. Alright, stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critiquing our oppression. If you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions to those that do.”

Finally, he criticizes the exploitation of black talent.

“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo. And we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture and our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations, then stealing them; gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strained fruit.”

The 50-second video segment of Wendy Williams’ reaction to Jesse’s speech, featured in the heading of this article, has been trending. It is most likely all that will be remembered from what she said. In all, however, Wendy spoke for over three minutes. She was clear about the reality of racism, something that she has most likely experienced herself.

“We can all do better in our own households, educating ourselves, teaching our children to make it better. National speeches like this always rub people the wrong way, just like, you know, white people might be offended because Spellman College is an historically black college for women. You might feel funny about that. I know I feel funny, like I just told you, if there was a white college or whatever…. This is why I like doing this show. It’s like the ‘why can’t we all get along’ show.”

According to B. Scott, Wendy Williams has been grieving the loss of the sponsor but refusing to apologize for what she said. Some people think she needs to read a bit more history before she gives commentary on the air.

Wendy Williams, however, believes she does not need to be schooled in the historical relevance of HBCUs and the NAACP. In a later episode of The Wendy Williams Show, she discussed the historical importance of black colleges and universities (beginning at 1:45 in the video below). She hinted that she does not think they are necessary today. At the same time, she still recognizes the difficult racial issues facing Americans today.

https://youtu.be/Rqib4q_5Ub0

“Historically black organizations, universities, have been around because we, as black people, were not allowed to go to your schools, drink out of your fountains, ride at the front of the bus, sit at your counter tops. But in 2016, you know, racism is still alive and well. Very much so…. I am a mighty proud black woman.”

There seems to be some disconnect between what Wendy said about HBCUs and the NAACP and Jesse Williams’ award acceptance speech. She seems to have gone off on a tangent — one that got her into trouble — when what she apparently wanted to say about Jesse’s speech was that he should have found a better way of talking about today’s racism in American society.

Was there really anything inflammatory in Wendy’s asking if there is relevance to the HBCU and NAACP today, or is this another example of political correctness that is, in effect, clamping down on open discussion of important issues in society? And is there any other way to resolve controversial issues other than talking about them openly?

Finally, do you think Chevrolet should pull their sponsorship from The Wendy Williams Show?

[Photo by Omar Vega/Invision/AP Images]

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