Damon Wayans Jr. Faces Social Media Backlash For Fourth of July ‘Racist Ancestors’ Joke

Damon Wayans Jr. felt the wrath of the Twitterverse on Tuesday after his tweet about Independence Day angered many social media users.

The comedian posted about the holiday writing, “Happy white people proud of their racist ancestors day.”

Although the tweet has racked up more than 800 retweets and 2,000 likes, it also garnered over 1,900 replies from people who were offended.

Fellow users immediately blasted Wayans, with one person accusing him of hating America and playing the race card. The actor responded to that explaining that his tweet was meant to be a joke which some just “took too personally.” However, that didn’t do much to calm the firestorm, and many followed that up telling him that they didn’t think it was a joke and certainly weren’t laughing about it. Others called it “offensive” and slammed him saying that he should be appreciative of his freedom and could instead be tweeting about all the brave men and woman who have fought for that freedom.

Despite the backlash, Wayans did not apologize for the tweet, and his nonchalant reply really worked some users up to the point where things got personal. As Page Six noted, some attacked his career and brought up his famous father, Damon Wayans Sr.

Happy white people proud of their racist ancestors day

— Damon Wayans Yunior? (@wayansjr) July 4, 2017

“Enjoy what’s left of your already s**tty career that your dad created for you,” someone wrote.

Wayans then shot back with, “Thanks … will do.”

From there users continued to go after his family and pointed to what they saw as hypocrisy for roles the Wayans family portrayed that some have deemed racist.

The actor finally ended his back and forth with his critics by reiterating that it was a joke.

The 34-year-old is, of course, the son of the elder Wayans and the nephew of Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans, and Marlon Wayans.

He made his big screen debut in 1994 with a part in a movie his dad starred in called Blackman. Years later, he played John on his father’s sitcom, My Wife and Kids. Some of his other credits include appearances on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine and starring in the film Let’s Be Cops, but he is perhaps best known for playing Brad Williams in the sitcom, Happy Endings, and as Coach in New Girl.

[Featured Image by Chris PizzelloInvision/AP]