David Guetta is facing backlash for remixing Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a tribute to George Floyd
- David Guetta is being criticized for remixing Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to honor George Floyd.
- The French DJ included the tribute during a livestream to fundraise for coronavirus relief efforts on Saturday.
- "Last night, I made a special record in honor of George Floyd," he said. Guetta added, "Shout out to his family."
- The musician then turned up the electronic beat and danced to a sample of King's speech.
- After watching the video, people were left "speechless" and called the tribute "tone-deaf."
David Guetta has been called out for releasing a "tone-deaf" tribute to George Floyd.
On Saturday, the 52-year-old French DJ livestreamed a fundraising concert for coronavirus relief efforts from a Manhattan rooftop.
During his set, he took a moment to draw attention to George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd's death has sparked international protests against police brutality and injustices faced by black people in America.
"The world is going through difficult times and America too, actually. Last night, I knew we were going to do this and I made a special record in honor of George Floyd," he said. "I really hope we can see more unity and more peace when already things are so difficult."
After sharing his words, Guetta gave a "shout out" to Floyd's family before cranking up the volume of a fast-paced electronic beat and dancing to a sample of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which the civil rights activist delivered in 1963.
After watching the "Titanium" DJ's performance, many people were stunned that he thought the tribute was appropriate. Some questioned whether Guetta thought he was "ending racism" by playing the remix and mocked him for demonstrating "the whitest way to react to racism."
People were particularly taken aback by his "shout out" to the Floyd family, making it sound like they were "friends at a club" rather than grieving a family member's death.
While many celebrities like Ariana Grande, Halsey, and Kendrick Sampson have attended the Black Lives Matter protests across the country and used their platforms to raise awareness about racial inequality, others have been criticized for their controversial responses to Floyd's death.
Madonna, for example, shared a video of her son dancing 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." In the video, her adopted son, David Banda, dances to Michael Jackson's song "They Don't Really Care About Us."
People remarked that the dance did little to combat racism and compared it to Kendall Jenner's 2017 Pepsi commercial, in which she seemingly ends racism by handing a police officer a can of soda.