Ellen DeGeneres posted and subsequently deleted a tweet about racial injustice in America.- Fans called out the talk show host for being "vague" and tone-deaf in the original message.
- Screenshots of the deleted tweet from Saturday are circulating on social media.
- According to screenshots, the tweet read: "Like so many of you, I am angry and I am sad. People of color in this country have faced injustice for far too long. For things to change, things must change."
- People took issue with her wording and lack of a concrete response.
- The host later tweeted a new message with information about where and how she's donated her money to the cause.
Ellen DeGeneres deleted a tweet about racial injustice in the US after some fans called her out for being vague and hypocritical.
Screenshots of the tweet, which was apparently posted on Saturday, appear to show DeGeneres advocating for racial equality and denouncing "injustice" after protests in response to the death of George Floyd after a Minnesota police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck for eight minutes grew over the weekend.
"Like so many of you, I am angry and I am sad," DeGeneres wrote, according to screenshots. "People of color in this country have faced injustice for far too long. For things to change, things must change."
"We must commit ourselves to this change with conviction and love," the message read.
Even though DeGeneres' message seemed like it was meant to inspire unity, it actually had the opposite effect.
Some people called out the host for her friendship with former president George W. Bush, who's been called a "war criminal" by some due to his military actions while president.
—medusa's gf (@isapphic) May 31, 2020
—indie (@INDIEWASHERE) May 31, 2020
—food truck drove away with my debit card (@fart) May 31, 2020
Others took issue with the fact that DeGeneres broadly referred to the injustices faced by "people of color" in the US, even though the current movement is primarily focused on violence experienced by the black community.
—A. (@sofiarahim) May 31, 2020
—Mae Lee (@Phases4Mae) May 31, 2020
—DoctorJonPaul (@DoctorJonPaul) May 31, 2020
—beth mccoll (@imteddybless) May 31, 2020
And quite a few users pointed out DeGeneres' apparent hypocrisy in advocating for racial justice while not doing much to actually help the cause (or the plight of her laid-off workers) at the time of her tweet.
—ashley brooke (@MTVASHLEYBROOKE) May 31, 2020
—Motorola Razr (@3pyramider) May 31, 2020
—annoyed dog Ⓥ (@annoyed_dog) June 1, 2020
—medusa's gf (@isapphic) May 31, 2020
DeGeneres appears to have deleted the tweet shortly after posting it, and the host shared a new message — complete with information about her donations — to Twitter on Sunday.
—Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 31, 2020
—Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 31, 2020
In the two new messages, DeGeneres said she was donating to the George Floyd Memorial Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Black Lives Matter, and the ACLU. She also specifically changed her message to be about the injustices faced by black people in the US.
Representatives for DeGeneres didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
This isn't the first time the host has faced backlash on social media because of her actions. She was called out by numerous Twitter users in April after she compared self-isolating in her California mansion to being in prison.
And in general, the past few months have seen several people — including YouTuber NikkieTutorials and a former bodyguard for DeGeneres — speak out about their negative experiences with the host, leading to plenty more backlash online.
- Read more:
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- Ellen DeGeneres is facing backlash after comparing self-isolating in her mansion to being in prison
- A former bodyguard for Ellen DeGeneres said his experience with the host was 'kind of demeaning'
- Ellen DeGeneres reportedly once called Steve Jobs to complain about her iPhone: 'She just lives in an incredibly privileged bubble'