In a 4900-word profile in the London-based Guardian, Janet Jackson made headlines this weekend for questioning the race of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seeking the presidency of the United States in the upcoming 2024 Election.
Janet Jackson is quoted as saying, “She’s not black. That’s what I heard.”
This prompted the publisher of her bestselling memoir, “True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself” to respond on Twitter (X): “silence is golden.”
“Race is a social construct,” said Karen Hunter, head of Karen Hunter Publishing (a Simon and Schuster imprint), which published “True You,” a New York Times No. 1 bestseller in 2011. “But if we’re talking about Blackness, it’s quite surprising that Jackson would step into this discussion given her brother, Michael, had to fight the label of not being Black for most of his life. And let’s not talk about his children. Her statement was stunning.”
Hunter, a former journalist with the New York Daily News who hosts a popular radio talk show on SiriusXM, has been railing against the misinformation campaign that has created chaos and confusion for the last three election cycles.
“There’s too much at stake in this election for people with huge platforms and popularity to participate in spreading misinformation,” said Hunter. “What was her purpose?”
The vast majority of the Guardian piece focused on her career, her relationship with her family, her failed marriages, body-image issues and the Super Bowl wardrobe “malfunction” that catapulted her into national controversy (which her team warned the writer of the piece not to ask her about). Towards the end, Janet brings up child trafficking and Guardian writer Nosheen Iqbal asks her about how she tackled this topic on her Rhythm Nation song. Iqbal writes:
On that record she sang about “joining voices in protest to social injustice” and “pushing toward a world rid of colour lines”. I wonder where she stands on the forthcoming election. After all, I say, America could be on the verge of voting in its first black female president, Kamala Harris.
“Well, you know what they supposedly said?” she asks me. “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.”
She looks at me expectantly, perhaps assuming that I have Indian heritage.
“Well, she’s both,” I offer.
“Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she coughs. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”
I’m floored at this point. It’s well known that Harris’s father is a Jamaican economist, a Stanford professor who split from her Indian mother when she was five.
“Kamala Harris’ race isn’t on the ballot, but reproductive rights, civil rights, democracy, Project 2025 are on the ballot,” said Hunter, who is relaunching KHP in 2025. “This distraction 45 days from Election Day is curious. And as someone who was a huge fan of Janet Jackson and for whom it was the greatest honor of my career to work with her on her book, I am very disappointed.”
The popstar has since issued an apology through her team following her comments. Her manager, Mo Elmasri, explained to Buzzfeed how Jackson’s comments on Kamala Harris’ identity were guided by “misinformation.”
“She deeply respects Vice President Kamala Harris and her accomplishments as a Black and Indian woman. Janet apologizes for any confusion caused and acknowledges the importance of accurate representation in public discourse,” Elmasri said. “We appreciate the opportunity to address this and will remain committed to promoting unity.”
