Apologizing for her controversial post on the social media platform, 'The First Wives Club' actress further explains that she got caught up in the heat of the moment.
- Oct 5, 2018
AceShowbiz - Bette Midler has apologised for controversially tweeting that "women are the n-word of the world".
The "Hocus Pocus" actress came under fire after she used a controversial Yoko Ono quote in a tweet in response to the sexual assault allegations surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
"'Women are the n-word of the world.' Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years," she wrote. "They are the most disrespected creatures on earth."
Within two hours, the 72-year-old's tweet had elicited almost 7,000 replies, with many users blasting her for minimising racism, while others were angry that the "Beaches" star compared the plight of women to the mistreatment of black people.
"It's time to retire that quote. It minimizes racism and is counterproductive to intersectional feminism. The shock value is in NO WAY worth the harm to Black people," one Twitter user posted, while another added: "There is no reason to use this quote."
The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me. Angrily I tweeted w/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) 5 October 2018
People demanded she delete the controversial tweet, and she eventually did hours later. Bette then apologised for her words, insisting that she was caught up in the heat of the moment.
"The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me," she wrote. "Angrily I tweeted w/o (without) thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize."
Protests took place in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to campaign against Kavanaugh, after FBI investigators found no evidence to suggest he's guilty of sexual assault.
Yoko first made the controversial phrase in a magazine interview, and it later became the title of her 1972 song with late husband John Lennon.
