Amid Black Mold Fight, Janet Jackson Questions Kamala Harris’ Race

Musician, actor and style icon Janet Jackson has been open about her views in recent years, with her 2017 State of the World tour kicking off with a video statement about her politics. “We will not be silent. LGBTQ rights. Peace not war. Black Lives Matter. Immigrants welcome. Liberty and justice for all,” the screens at the tour stadiums read. “Prejudice: No! Ignorance: No! Bigotry: No! Illiteracy: No!” the message continued.

Those values ​​were contrary to the messages being put out by the then president. Donald Trumphave its own value seems to have evolved even further Those principles are part of his current campaign to regain the White House. It seems that Jackson’s values ​​may have changed, too, at least when it comes to her list of non-negotiables.

The 58-year-old singer’s 1986 song, “Nasty,” get an ironic bump in 2016 when Trump used that word against the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the presidential debate of that election cycle. It was a politics-meets-pop-culture moment That almost seems quaint now, given Trump’s supposed preference these days for referring to his Democratic opponent, the vice president. Kamala Harris, like a “bitch”. (What a shame for “bitch“ singer Meredith BrooksThe American public seems less inclined to dismiss Trump’s insults as silly jokes this time.)

Janet Jackson fans will likely be relieved to hear that the superstar didn’t use harsh language to describe Harris. But the way she framed the possibility of Harris becoming president wasn’t exactly supportive. In an interview published Saturday, by GuardianThe singer of “Pleasure Principle” has perpetuated one of the stupidest lies ever told in this Stupidity-lean presidential election: lie that Harris cheated about her race.

It’s clear from reading the conversation that even the reporter Nosheen Iqbal was not confused. According to the journalist (who is also a presenter for the Guardian Today’s Highlights podcast), she only asked Jackson about Harris because of the social justice messages Jackson has presented in her work since she started. National Rhythm album in 1989. “Oh, you know what they say?” Jackson replied. “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”

This is a similar statement to Trump’s first in July, when he participated in an interview with National Association of Black JournalistsAt that event, Trump said of Harris that “She has always had Indian roots and she is just promoting Indian heritage.”

“I didn’t know she was black until years ago, when she accidentally passed as black and now she wants to be known as black,” Trump continued to falsely say about the vice president, who has never hidden her identity as the daughter of Donald J. HarrisHer father is black Jamaican-American and her mother is Shyamala Gopalan, who came to the United States from India in 1958.

“So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?” Trump continued from the NABJ stage in July. “She was Indian all along, and all of a sudden, she changed and became black.”

While virtually every news outlet fact-checked Trump’s remarks that day, it seems the message didn’t reach Jackson, who actually doubled down on Trump’s lies when speaking to Iqbal. “Her father is white. That’s what I’ve heard. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” Jackson said when Iqbal corrected her. “I’ve heard that they found out her father is white.”

It is unclear who the “they” Jackson was referring to, nor did she cite a source for the false claim about Harris’ father. Jackson’s representative has not yet responded. Vanity Fairrequest for clarification of.

As Iqbal writes, “Those most vocal in questioning the truth about Harris’s identity tend to be hardcore QAnon-adjacentconspiracy theorists love Trump,” but since she doesn’t “think Jackson is in that camp,” one has to “wonder what the algorithms are serving her.” But just hours after the Guardian interview was published, Jackson was back in the headlines for another reason: her penthouse was allegedly infested with black mold, a fungus that grows what experts say can cause neurological problems including memory loss, confusion, and cognitive impairment.

According to to the Daily MailJackson recently moved out of her $26,000-a-month residence at Chelsea Barracks in London after discovering the toxic substance, after living in the apartment “for years.” The Mail reports that she is now considering moving back to the US, which is surprising given what she has to say about the fallout from the upcoming election. “I think it’s going to be chaos no matter what,” Jackson said, then repeated herself. “I think it’s probably going to be chaos no matter what. But we’ll have to see.”