Chrissy Teigen Opens Up About Racism And White Supremacism
Chrissy Teigen has become a voice of truth on social media. She has proven that she is more than just a model. She has become a social rights advocate in her own right.
Unfortunately, both Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend have become the center of racism by the paparazzi. Her husband revealed that a paparazzo called him a “monkey” and opened up about the racist incident during a sit-down interview with Variety at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The alleged incident took place at New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport last Thursday, Jan. 19.
Legend’s wife, Teigen, 31, was by his side and even tweeted about their uncomfortable altercation with the paparazzi.
“Paparazzi at JFK just asked me if we evolved from monkeys, why is John Legend still around?” she wrote. “And people wonder why celebs lose it in pics.”
https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/822171772229451778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“We were just right next to each other and we looked at each other like, ‘Did he really just say that?” Legend, 38, recalled to Variety on Saturday, Jan. 21. “And he really said it. He basically called me a monkey.”
.@JohnLegend opens up at #VarietyStudio about his recent racist airport encounter with wife @chrissyteigen: "It's a shame that still exists" pic.twitter.com/BhZGsUvJyJ
— Variety (@Variety) January 22, 2017
Teigen planned to attend Sundance but opted out last minute to attend the Women’s March in Washington D.C. over the weekend. Legend explained that the slur has racist connotations and strips away the humanity of African-Americans.
“Black folks have had to deal with being called monkeys for a long time and dehumanization has always been kind of a method of racism and subjugation of black people and that’s just part of American history – and it’s part of the present, apparently.”
“We saw with the former president, Obama, whenever people wanted to discount him or discount his wife, they compared them to apes,” he continued. “And we’ve seen that frequently. I’m not hurt by someone saying that to me because I’m smarter, I’m stronger. I look down on that person that would say something like that. But it’s a shame that it still exists.”
This shocking revelation comes after Teigen called out white nationalist and alt-right leader Richard Spencer on social media. In case you forgot, Spencer was recently punched in the face at a protest shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, and it was captured on camera for the world to see. Social media has been sharing repetitious videos and remixes (complete with songs) of Spencer getting punched in the face.
According to Mic, Spencer is a white supremacist who is notorious for promoting Nazi propaganda and for coining the phrase “alt-right” to describe his extremist views. The constant videos and memes of Spencer getting punched in the face have made him a bit angry. In a Periscope video he posted after the clips of his attack went viral, he said, “I’m afraid this is going to become the meme to end all memes. That I’m going to hate watching this,” reports The New York Times.
On Monday, Jan. 23, he tweeted a cryptic response to becoming the punching bag of the internet.
https://twitter.com/TheeCurrentYear/status/822584853661184000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become,” he vaguely tweeted.
Teigen fired back: “you became someone who was punched in the face.” She continued, “you are literally a nazi. I don’t even need to come up with a comeback. Really takes the pressure off. Thanks, nazi! [SIC]”
https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/823546980412563456
https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/823595187360464896
The two went back and forth, and soon after others on social media started to attack Spencer and even tweeted the video as a swift reminder. It looks like Spencer will be a meme and punching bag for social media for a long time. Spencer has yet to respond and will not further comment on that incident.
[Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors]
