The death of African-American George Floyd, who was killed in a police operation, caused great unrests around the world. Many people were shocked by this affair and decided to take to the streets to express their disagreement with racial intolerance. While the protests held in Prague in the Czech Republic took place peacefully, in many other places they included violent attacks, looting and vandalism. How are celebrities reacting to this situation? LP-life.cz will now introduce you to several celebrities who were galvanized by this situation and felt the need to express their opinion, or even reached deep into their pockets and sent a considerable amount to organizations fighting racism. But we will also show you stars who, whether consciously or not, reacted somewhat inappropriately and garnered considerable criticism from their fans.
The death of George Floyd lifted many people off their seats. Many celebrities therefore decided to join the protests against police brutality and took to the streets with banners. These include Ben Affleck, Ariana Grande and Leonardo DiCaprio. People could also express their support and solidarity against racial discrimination on social networks by publishing a black image. By sharing a full black photo, they showed that they agreed with the "Black Lives Matter" movement. If you follow a couple of celebrities on Instagram, you have probably noticed that many of them posted this black square.
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AngelinaSource: Profimedia
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Hermione puts style above everything
Harry Potter star, actress Emma Watson, also joined the BLM movement. Or at least she wanted to. Emma shared a black square on her Instagram, but put a white frame around it. You might be thinking, "What‘s the problem, she just wanted to spice up her post a little." Emma probably thought the same, unaware that shortly after sharing the picture, she would have to face a storm of criticism. Fans of the 30-year-old actress accused her of using the white frame as an act of defiance, and of not caring for anything but making her posts on social platforms look as good as possible. Whatever Emma‘s intentions, one thing is for sure: she lost many of her followers due to the "frame".
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Source: Profimedia
Dance baby, dance!
Another star who was somewhat out of line is Madonna. A few days after George Floyd's death, she caused an outrage on the Internet by posting a video in which her adopted son dances to „honor and pay tribute“ to the African American. Oops.
"As news of George Floyds brutal murder travels around the world my son David Dances to honor and pay tribute to George and His Family and all Acts of Racism and Discrimination that happen on a daily basis in America,“
the singer wrote on her social networks. In the video, David, whom Madonna adopted from Malawi in 2006, dances to a song by Michael Jackson.
How did the fans react?
,,Thank you so much. I’m so glad he was able to stomp out racism with this deeply moving tribute,”
the post Madonna shared drew criticism.
"That's so stupid of you, Madonna. You‘ve just made a mockery of the whole problem,"
another fan wrote on Instagram. Although Madonna had probably meant it well and she wanted to show her son's talent, maybe next time it would be easier and more fitting to express her solidarity with a simple black image. Without white borders, of course!
Those who‘re helping the case
Let‘s now look at the celebrities who reached deep into their pockets and helped not only through words and posts on social media, but also financial support. These include, for example, Jennifer Aniston, who, according to several foreign sources, has donated almost one million dollars to several charities to support the fight against racial discrimination. Actress Angelina Jolie also joined the case. She donated two hundred thousand dollars to support human rights.
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"Discrimination and impunity cannot be tolerated, explained or justified,"
the actress commented on her gift.
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Source: Profimedia
Meghan Markle and her husband Harry also took part in the protests and expressed their support for multiple organizations. The Duchess of Sussex even spoke to students at a school in Los Angeles, where she had studied in the past, during their graduation. In her speech, she admitted that she was very touched by George Floyd's death and encouraged the students to vote.
