Last week on Twitter, I came across news on my feed about actress Gabrielle Union’s departure from “America’s Got Talent”. Never having watched the show, I was not aware of her leave and especially not in the context of its controversy. The tweet was from Twitter user @IWriteAllDay_, also known as Clarkisha Kent who writes for Wear Your Voice Magazine- an intersectional feminist publication.

The news that Gabrielle Union and AGT co-host Julianne Hough would not be returning as judges for season 15 of the NBC show started to spark controversy after Union’s reports of her work environment surfaced. These reports included hearing racist comments from staffers about her hairstyle being “too black” and a comment from guest judge Jay Leno about dogs being “on the menu at a Korean restaurant”. Supposedly, the producers opted not to renew her contract after she voiced concern over the offensive joke, about her own experiences and those of her white co-star Hough who supposedly was also subject to critiques about her appearance- although she later denied these allegations.

In an interview on January 23, Terry Crews, the host of the popular series, told magazine Us Weekly that “It was the best experience I ever had in my entire life. Crews went on to address whether he saw issues with diversity behind the scenes. “When they talk about diversity, there was every bit of diversity on set, everywhere,” he insisted. “I have never been in a more diverse place in 20 years of entertainment, so what can I say?” Meanwhile, Hough denied allegations that her physical appearance was criticized by the staff. “I had a wonderful time on America’s Got Talent. I loved working with the cast, crew and producers,” she said in a statement to Variety. “I am happy to continue my working relationship with NBC. … I’m looking forward to what the future holds.” 

Black writers on Twitter, specifically Black women, responded to these headlines in support of Gabrielle Union, seeing how her ex co-stars were intentionally denying her experience of racism and misogyny while she was working for AGT by staying silent and supporting the company she is trying to hold accountable. In the thread of her earlier tweet, Clarkisha Kent links an article where she calls out Crews for “throwing her under the bus” and reminds us that Black women and girls are dismissed by society at large even though they are always the first to show solidarity.

Before the list, Kent brings our attention to Gabrielle Union and centers her experience.

“This is aggravating, true, but unsurprising considering the circumstances. And I’m glad Union herself is finally speaking out. But because EYE am interested in backing her up as she speaks, instead of thinkpiece-ing this thing to death, I’m just gonna list a few things doing a better job of supporting Black women better than Terry Crews (and most other Black men, let’s be honest):”

Continuing Clarkisha Kent’s thread of “thinkpiece-ing”, we can apply Kimberly Crenshaw’s intersectionality framework to this popular controversy. Kent points us to a powerful piece by writer Soraya Nadia McDonald that helps us understand the lack of support for Gabrielle Union on all sides (from her Black co-star, her female co-star, and everyone else), and how solidarity and real experiences are shaped by identity politics. McDonald gives as an example singer R. Kelly and the case in which he assaulted a 14-year old girl on video to show how Black women and girls are made disposable. Despite more than enough evidence of his crime and violence, Kelly is still free from any real consequences of his actions and the victim is denied any real justice. According to McDonald, this happens not only because he is a man in a position of power, but also because society teaches all of us that Black bodies, and specifically Black women, “simply don’t matter”. Commenting on the over-sexualization of the black female body, which is rooted in the history of contemporary slavery, she says that Kelly’s case was interpreted by the public through a specific racialized and sexualized lens in which “Her worth was tied to her morality, which was tied to her sexual experience. And since she appeared to be experienced, and inappropriately so, she was disposable.” She recalls living in the moment of the case in 2002 and being a freshman at Howard University when conversations with boys at her school showed their commitment to protect and even defend Kelly (and his status) at the expense of his victim. She explains their reasoning “This wasn’t just a moral judgment, it was one that absolved them, and other men, of any obligation to see this girl as just that — a girl, on the short end of a screwed-up power dynamic.” Applying Kimberly Crenshaw’s framework of intersectionality to this analysis, we can clearly see similarities between the public’s dismissal of Kelly’s case and the decision of LAPD to release statistics of domestic violence- both cases excluded the priorities of black women in favor of a political agenda that doesn’t center their experiences.

That Black women are marginalized in the discourse of feminism and anti-racism movements is part of McDonald’s claim that Black women and girls are dismissed in our society. Kent, however, also reminds us that Black women are always leading the frontiers of solidarity “Be it a fellow Black person or even another marginalized party, Black women are always supportive and prepared to do what’s right.” Gabrielle Union did just that in October of 2017, amid mounting allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, when Crews publicly came out with claims that he had been groped by former WME agent Adam Venit. While many of the actor’s colleagues chose to remain silent about his allegation, Union tweeted in support of his character and his testimony. Union, who works in the same industry and had also shared her own experience of sexual violence during the peak of the #MeToo movement on social media, acted in solidarity with Crews by supporting his claim to truth. Despite Union’s serious allegations, Crews publicly and in the wake of her dismissal, denied experiencing racism or anti-blackness on the set of the show they were both part of. He, instead, says “It was just not my experience” and shows support for the show by claiming it to be diverse despite those claims being in contradiction with Union’s experience.

 

Crews made a decision to prioritize his experience, his voice, and his position in power hence why Kent goes on to list 25 things that are more supportive of black women than Terry Crews and leaves us to connect the obvious dots. However Crews isn’t the only one to call out; we can also apply this analysis to how Hough responded to Union’s claims of sexism on the show which also work to discredit and marginalize Union’s voice. She does not speak up in support of Union and instead wants to continue working with NBC. Through the lens of intersectionality, we can interpret Crews and Hough as representing the minority categories of identity for the race and sex that Gabrielle Union identifies with. She is denied support and any form of solidarity from a Black man and a white woman despite the fact that the politics she was advocating for by calling out NBC were anti-racist and anti-sexist. As a Black woman, Gabrielle Union was advocating and demanding justice for her experience working for a racist and sexist company and was dismissed in the eye of the public. This analysis of popular culture calls into view the complicated power dynamics that are overlooked when identity politics frame groups of people as discrete and monolithic. It also reminds us, as Kimberly Crenshaw writes, to not only include, but also center the experiences and voices of Black women. 

Crews, apologized to Union on Twitter only after he received criticism.