I often find myself wishing I could turn back the hands of time especially when it comes to social media and celebrities. I remember when my friends and I were obsessed with B2K in high school. We had to research to find out more about our favorites members and tear pages out of magazines to get photos of them to put on our walls. I felt accomplished when I learned Lil Fizz’ entire name but these days not much work has to be done to learn about or gain access to your favorite celebrities. You can find out all you want to know in seconds with a simple search and even send them direct messages if you’re feeling bold.
This easy access to those in the entertainment industry is both a blessing and a curse. The good parts include being able to know when your favorite artists will be on tour in your town and finding out about their latest happenings directly from the source. The bad seems to outweigh the good these days as the constant access leads fans to believe that they deserve to have a say in what goes on in the personal lives of celebrities. Let’s take Michael B. Jordan for example…
When I first heard that some black women were upset about Michael B. Jordan’s dating preferences, it was before Black Panther was released in theatres. Since I personally saw no women on my timeline confirming these shenanigans, I thought it was an internet hoax from one of those questionable websites. I paid it no mind.
Then the film came out and Killmonger was labeled the sexiest, most relatable villain ever. Cool right? And then Michael B. Jordan was on magazine covers and folks were looking forward to Creed 2 because the first one was great but also because of his abs. I thought to myself “Man, this guy is having a great year.”
The internet went nuts when pictures from his recent vacation in Italy surfaced and they included images of him on boat ride full of melanin-deficient women. I read comments about how he’s now “canceled” and people vowed to no longer support him or his films. But why though?
Has this man ever done anything to publicly disrespect Black women? Do you know how many Black men have a preference for dating women who are outside of their race? Do y’all not listen to the songs praising foreign chicks and make them top the charts? If Michael B. Jordan is cancelled for not publicly dating a Black woman for all to see, then I guess y’all should start a list of men to cancel and trust me it’s going to be long. Y’all don’t want to cancel Terrence Howard and “Empire” though, right? Or is he not fine enough for people to care? If you weren’t worried about Seal when he got with Heidi Klum, you shouldn’t be tripping now!
We can’t pick and choose when to be outraged especially when the outrage is about something so unimportant. I can’t tell you who Lil’ Fizz was dating back in 2003 but I know my teenage brain couldn’t have fathomed the idea of not listening to B2K anymore because she didn’t look like me. If a man in the prime of his career chooses not to locate Black Italian women while he’s on vacation, that’s not my concern.
So what’s the solution?
Is he supposed to travel with random Black women on standby for photographic purposes just to appease people? At this point, if he’s photographed with a Black woman folks will assume it’s only because of the backlash he received. And if he did end up with a Black girlfriend in the near future do you know how many internet trolls would have negative things to say about her? Maybe her skin wouldn’t be dark enough to please the masses or maybe he’d be “too cute” for her… It’s a lose-lose situation. It seems like people will build you up just to find a reason to tear you down, it’s sad really.
Michael B. Jordan may smile and laugh about people changing his middle initial to “bae” but little did he know, folks were serious when they said it. People think they own him for real, for real.
Newsflash: Lil’ Fizz wasn’t really my first boyfriend and Michael B. Jordan is not your bae no matter how fine you think he is. And the truth is, he shouldn’t have to issue statements about his dating preferences or explain who’s on what boat and why. This goes for everyone else too. Idris Elba, Omari Hardwick, and whatever other good looking black male celebrity you can think of doesn’t owe you or me anything. We don’t have the right to judge what outfits their significant others wear to weddings or worry about their spouse’s race or appearance. Let’s let entertainers entertain and leave it at that.