As violent protests rip through the very fabric of the US in wake of George Floyd’s by a police officer, celebrities across the globe are lending their voice to the cause by urging fans to sign petitions, donate funds and take action against racism. Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, died last week after Derek Chauvin, a police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” Video footage of the incident has sent shockwaves across the world, with Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on May 29.
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One of the most powerful voices in the entertainment arena has spoken up as well with singer Beyonce taking to social media to demand justice for George Floyd. In a video posted on her Instagram, the Grammy winner urged her fans to speak up against racism and sign up for one of the four petitions she shared. “We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalise this pain,” she says in the video. “I’m not only speaking to people of colour. If you’re white, black, brown or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of colour as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American.”
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Entertainment queen Oprah Winfrey also shared an image of Floyd on her Instagram, stating that she has been “trying to process what can be said or heard in this moment”. The media mogul continued: “I haven’t been able to get the image of the knee on his neck out of my head. It’s there every morning when I rise and when I go through the ordinary duties of the day. While pouring coffee, lacing my shoes, and taking a breath, I think: He doesn’t get to do this… His family and friends say he was a gentle giant. His death has now shown us he had a giant soul. If the largeness of a soul is determined by its sphere of influence, George Floyd is a Mighty soul. #GeorgeFloyd: We speak your name. But this time we will not let your name be just a hashtag. Your spirit is lifted by the cries of all of us who call for justice in your name!”
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Singer Ariana Grande, who blacked out her image on Instagram, urged her followers to sign the petitions she was sharing and make donations, aside from having conversations with family and friends about racism. “… The senseless acts of murder that happen in this country far too often, please keep reading up... our black friends need us to show up and to be better and to be vocal. now more than ever. online. offline even more so. this is more than a post. we have to show up. there is work that needs to be done and it is absolutely on us to do it. #blacklivesmatter [sic],” Grande posted.
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Reality TV star, activist and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian West also spoke of being fed up of the “systematic racism” she continues to witness in the US. “For years, with every horrific murder of an innocent black man, woman, or child, I have always tried to find the right words to express my condolences and outrage,” the 39-year-old stated. “But the privilege I am afforded by the color of my skin has often left me feeling like this is not a fight that I can truly take on as my own. Not today, not anymore. Like so many of you, I am angry. I am more than angry. I am infuriated and I am disgusted.”
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American model Bella Hadid also vented her anger on social media, asking her followers to turn their rage towards doing something more constructive. “I’m sure all of you feel the same way but my sadness has viciously turned into anger...this will not be overlooked!!,” Hadid wrote. “Text so not just ONE, but all FOUR officers that took part in this MURDER will have to own up to their actions and be taken to jail for life. The fact that they could have stood there and watched is disgusting and in my eyes, just as bad. If you are able, please join me in donating to help the family of George Floyd with The Official George Floyd Memorial Fund.”
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‘Men in Black’ star Tessa Thompson also demanded that the officers who took Floyd’s life are charged. In a post, the actress further stated: “Some of you may feel that silence is safer, for fear of saying the wrong thing. I’ve sometimes struggled with that too. But now is the time to lean in and engage. Fear not! We all have learning to do. To dismantle any system we must understand it— and build community.”
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Singer Rihanna spoke up for fellow African Americans in the country, lending her voice to the multitude of emotions being felt by many. “Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart! To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd’s voice again, begging over and over for his life!!! The look of enticement, the pure joy and climax on the face of this bigot, murderer, thug, pig, bum, Derek Chauvin, haunts me!! I can’t shake this! I can’t get over an ambulance pulling up to an arrest, a paramedic checking a pulse without removing the very thing that’s hindering it!... If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for “drugs” or “resisting arrest”....then what’s the fit consequence for MURDER???!”
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‘Bad Guy’ singer Billie Eilish also took to Instagram on May 30, writing, “If I hear one more white person say ‘All Lives Matter’ one more [expletive] time I’m gonna lose my [expletive] mind… No one is saying your life doesn’t matter. No one is saying your life is not hard. No one is saying literally anything at all about you...... This is not about you. Stop making everything about you. You are not in need. You are not in danger.” She continued: “Society gives you privilege just for being white. You can be poor, you can be struggling, and still your skin color is giving you more privilege than you even realize. Nobody is saying that makes you better than anyone. It just lets you live your life without having to worry about surviving simply because of your skin color! You are privileged!”
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Chrissy Teigen, meanwhile, made a donation to bail and legal defense funds for protesters and when a fellow Twitter user responded that she’d be supporting “Rioters and criminals,” she doubled down. The media star and judge of the new Quibi show ‘Chrissy’s Court’, turned the occasion of (vaguely) planned right-wing counterprotests into a $100,000 donation to various direct funds for activists arrested protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While US President Donald Trump took a more consoling tone in remarks tweeting: “The professionally managed so-called ‘protesters’ at the White House had little to do with the memory of George Floyd. They were just there to cause trouble. The @SecretService handled them easily. Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???” Teigen’s post came a few hours later. “In celebration of whatever the [expletive] maga night is, I am committed to donating $100,000 to the bail outs of protestors across the country,” she wrote. In response to trollish comments about protesters, she upped the donation “Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000.”
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Meanwhile, actor John Cusack got into the fray, taking to social media over the weekend to report that he was attacked by the Chicago police by batons. The actor posted details of the incident on Twitter, stating: “Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.” The corresponding audio depicts someone screaming: “Get out of here,” with another voice, reportedly Cusack’s replying: “Alright, alright I’m going.” The actor posted a video a short while later, adding: “These were some of the peace officers — who gently tuned up my bike with their batons.” The ‘High Fidelity’ actor has been documenting the nationwide US protests that have arisen in the wake of the death of Floyd.
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Actor Jamie Foxx landed in Minneapolis press conference on May 29, where he addressed a crowd at a press conference. “I think that what you saw on television, to watch this man plead for his life,” Foxx said. “As I sit with my two daughters, my nephews .. what it does is, it over-complicates everything as a black man trying to tell his son or his daughter how to function in life. Even the things that we’ve taught them don’t seem to work.”
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Also on the frontlines of the protests is ‘Insecure’s Kendrick Sampson who said he was hit by rubber bullets and a police officer’s baton while protesting in California. “They’re gonna arrest all of us,” Sampson said in one video clip, adding: “Just to let y’all know, they’re telling us to disburse, but they boxed us in.” He further added: “They shot me four times already. I already got hurt and I got hit with a baton.”
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Nick Cannon was also on location in Minneapolis, taking to Instagram with a photo holding a poster that read ‘Justice for Floyd’, while actor Michael B Jordan who has also been on the frontlines of protests, added on Instagram: “This country was built on the backs of our ancestors — backs that had a target the entire time and this month is no different with more black lives caught in the crosshairs. Too many look at us as public enemies, only some see us as humans, and yet we need to be superhuman just to survive. We must strategize, organize, and train ourselves as we demand more. One arrest isn’t enough. This is just the beginning.”
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