Whoopi Goldberg to DeRay McKesson: ‘Get over yourself’

Jul 12, 2017

Recently, activist DeRay McKesson stirred up a bit of controversy when he suggested that War for the Planet of the Apes was racist.

“Given the history of rendering black people as apes, I’m offended & appalled by the lack of consciousness in Hollywood,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet along with a picture of an ape in a blue jacket and a figure of the same character. “In associating black people with apes, active work is being done to perpetuate the dehumanization of black people in mass media.”

McKesson seemed to have a problem in particular with that ape character, as McKesson is known for wearing his blue vest in his Black Lives Matter work.

But Whoopi Goldberg told McKesson to have a seat on Wednesday on The View, pointing him back to the original 1968 film with the same costuming.

“DeRay, you need to go back and watch the 1968 original and check out what the apes were wearing. This has nothing to do with you,” she said as the original blue costume was shown. “This was a movie about what happens when mankind doesn’t pay attention to the environment, to how we treat animals and each other. That’s what that movie was about… Get over yourself!”

“It has nothing to do with him. It has nothing to do with black people,” Goldberg later added, telling McKesson, “You’re doing great stuff. Don’t screw it up by doing something dumb.”

She then called him out, saying, “DeRay, come on over. Explain your behind.”

— Katy Perry addresses her cultural appropriation in sit down with DeRay McKesson —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lX7Fg6zYZE

In response, McKesson tweeted out, “.@WhoopiGoldberg, if you have something to say, I’m here.”

He also added, “Now, with the #PlanetOfTheApes poster & toy, I was contacted by folks within Hollywood who thought there was an issue, hence those tweets. After speaking with even more people about the history of the film, I deleted the tweets.”