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Bernice King gave a piece of her mind to Sexyy Red when the latter took to social media to upload an AI-generated image of herself looking cozy with Martin Luther King Jr in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
When Bernice King, the activist's daughter, caught wind of the image, she called out the rapper cum singer and asked her to take it down, noting that it was "disrespectful" to the family's legacy.
Sexyy Redd immediately apologized, asserting that she meant no harm and she was just reposting what she thought was a harmless picture. Fans have since begun picking sides, with many even lauding the songstress for coming clean and accepting her mistakes. Here's what one user (@somethinaboutdom) said:
"Sexy responded & took accountability like an adult 👏."
Scores online lauded the singer for how she handled the situation:
"Love the accountability, it really be THAT SIMPLE to apologize when you’re wrong," one user (@shanicetiara) opined.
"Glad she took the accountability road and not tried to be mean or anything," someone (@binta.dby) else pointed out.
"I truly believe she didn’t mean to be disrespectful," another (@siera.nocile) shared.
The comments didn't end there, as users online visibly had a lot to say about the whole debacle:
"Very disrespectful, but she took ACCOUNTABILITY. Thats rare," someone (@thequeenofaccountability) asserted.
"That was a genuine hood apology!!" another (@missamaericababy) declared.
"Yall hate sexyy but she honesty real af. 🤷🏻♀️" someone (@theofficialsonde) echoed.
Most of the comments were in the same vein:
"This was a great response and I truly believe her. She didn’t think much of it at first," one user (@abrilelon) chimed in.
"It’s the accountability for her actions🫡but there are other distasteful AI photos of MLK she chose hers to call out!" another (@therealna.dra) exclaimed.
Scores were of the opinion that Sexyy Red truly meant no harm and that she was just being goofy.
Sexyy Red and Bernice King get into a heated exchange: Read the whole thing below
Upon catching wind of Sexyy Red's fabricated image, here's what Bernice King had to say:
"This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty. Please delete."
The songstress replied with an apology:
"You ain't wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies. Just reposted something I saw that I thought was innocent."
In another post, Bernice told her followers that she didn't have any malice against the singer, but she wasn't happy that her father was being portrayed in such a nature:
'Please don’t project your thoughts onto me,' Bernice said. 'I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a "degenerate," "ghetto," or "trash." I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.'
She also said she didn't understand 'this type of use' of her late father's image 'in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice,' particularly 'on #MLKDay, no less.' She went on, adding 'Even if you disagree with him or with his tactics or even believe things said about him by people who hated him, why do this?'
As for Sexxy Red's apology, here's what Bernice King had to say:
'Thank you for your apology, which I sincerely accept. Please know that it was not my intention that you be denigrated. I value you as a human being.' She continued, 'I hope you understand my concerns about the image. I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or to the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination).'
She went on, noting that "Unfortunately, I regularly challenge the disregard. I earnestly wish that people would imagine what it would feel like to see their deceased, murdered father repurposed for party fliers, unjust legislation, etc. All the best to you, young lady."
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At the time of writing, Sexyy Red has yet to comment on the drama. TMZ has reportedly reached out to a rep for the same, though they have since declined to comment.
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