R&B singer Ciara recently took to Twitter to call out sports journalist Jason Whitlock over his controversial remarks about the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was brutally beaten to death by Memphis police officers.
On Friday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Whitlock spoke about Nichols’ death, blaming single Black mothers.
“There is a racial element. And this is a story about young Black men and their inability to treat each other in a humane way,” he said. “Everybody involved in this on the street level was either 24 to 32 years old. Everybody. It was a group of young Black men, five-on-one. Looked like gang violence to me. It looked like what young Black men do when they’re supervised by a single Black woman.”
He added, “And that’s what they got going on in the Memphis Police Department. They’ve elected some, or put some Black woman in charge of the police force, and we are getting the same kind of chaos and disunity and violence that we see in a lot of these cities run by single mothers.”
Ciara, 37, was outraged and immediately slammed him for his statements. She wrote on Twitter, “@WhitlockJason As a black man to get on national TV and say something like this is irresponsible. A lot of amazing kids have come from single mothers. For you to also undermine single black women in the midst of this tragedy is so sad. This woman just lost her son! Do better!”
.@WhitlockJason As a black man to get on national tv and say something like this is irresponsible. A lot of amazing kids have come from single mothers. For you to also undermine single black women in the midst of this tragedy is so sad. This woman just lost her son! Do better!
— Ciara (@ciara) January 28, 2023
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Many agreed with Ciara, responding to her tweet in support.
Thank you @ciara What a self loathing, cold, reckless, stereotypical, insensitive clout chasing untruth to spew in front of millions?Tyre called out for his mama and this was his takeaway? Neither Tyre’s mother or Chief CJ are single black moms so WHY say that? Pathetic troll ?
— Holly Robinson Peete ??♍️ (@hollyrpeete) January 29, 2023
He’s an idiot. The Black woman running the Police Department (Cerelyn Davis) that he’s comparing to a single mother is literally married with child. Her husband also worked in the justice system. He’s just hitting conservative talking points without doing research.
— Karlton Jahmal ?? (@KarltonJahmal) January 28, 2023
On January 30, Whitlock also shared an insensitive clip from an episode of his show, Fearless, making remarks about Tyre Nichols and his death being related to “Baby-mama culture.”
Yes, baby-mama culture explains the Tyre Nichols tragedy. pic.twitter.com/EfIpRfwHRM
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) January 30, 2023
Whitlock’s remarks show his lack of tact and ignorance.
