Amanda Seales is tired of white celebrities who say they support movements like Black Lives Matter, but then turn a blind eye when it’s time to actually show their advocacy on their platforms. And this time she’s taking aim specifically at Justin Timberlake after he turned off the comments in his post about Ahmaud Arbery.
Two months after he was fatally shot while taking a jog around his neighborhood, there has finally been movement in the Arbery case because of the social media outrage sparked by the public, and celebrities like Seales, who regularly speak up about racial injustice on their social media platform.
READ MORE: Note left at Ahmaud Arbery’s death site: ‘I should have stopped them’
Last week, Timberlake posted a black-and-white photo of the unarmed 25-year-old, writing: “If you’re not outraged, you should be. Justice for #AhmaudArbery.”
However, the musician turned off his comments, presumably to avoid any racially-charged debates and this is what the actress took issue with.
READ MORE: Ahmaud Arbery murder suspect had previous neighborhood confrontation
The day after the post, Seales took to her own Instagram account to perform her rendition of Teddy Pendergrass’ “Turn Off The Lights” cleverly renamed, “Turn On The Comments.”
“Dedicated to @justintimberlake and the white artists showing ‘solidarity’ posting about #ahmaudarbery but closing their comments/IG replies,” she wrote in the caption. “Ain’t no half steppin. This is how you ally. You get in the weeds with your fans who are also fans of racist rhetoric. #TURNEMON.”
READ MORE: Amanda Seales recounts nasty Target encounter: ‘I should spit on you!’
“This goes out to all the white celebrities…ya see I turned off my comments because I got tired of arguing with racists. But you know what? It’s your turn,” she sang in the post that received nearly half a million likes not just from fans but also from fellow Black celebrities like Yvette Nicole Brown and Lalah Hathaway.
“You use our rhythm, now come get a taste of our blues,” she continued in what was a clear and direct jab at Timberlake. “Turn on the comments, then get nosey. Scroll through and tell me what you see. A whole lot of racists, a whole lot of privilege, saying, ‘I don’t see color’ over and over and over and over again. You wanna be down, well let’s see what you about.”
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