Amy Schumer Lands in Hot Water After Beyonce Parody Video
Amy Schumer Image by Getty Images
Amy Schumer is being accused of culture appropriation and disrespecting Beyonce, pop’s reigning queen.
Schumer, along with friends Wanda Sykes, Joan Cusack and Goldie Hawn, made a parody video of Beyonce’s recent single, “Formation,” a song that takes a provocative look at police brutality against African-Americans and includes references to the Black Panthers and Hurricane Katrina.
Laid over with the lyrics from the original tune, the video shows Schumer and company badly performing hip hop dance moves like twerking, and posing in a variety of outfits including sun dresses and police vests.
Some critics responded to the video by accusing Schumer — who appears in the video with a mostly white crowd — of culturally appropriation and detracting from the message of “Formation.”
“Like, wtf is wrong with Amy Schumer?! She gotta go. #AmySchumerGottaGoParty,” wrote Imani Gandy, a legal analyst and blogger, on Twitter, using the hashtag some have employed for this controversy.
Like, wtf is wrong with Amy Schumer?! She gotta go. #AmySchumerGottaGoParty
— Imani Gandy Corn (@AngryBlackLady) October 24, 2016
Has anyone taken Jay to task for allowing that Amy Schumer Sour Lemonade crap on Tidal? Are there not standards over there? It was horrific.
— April (@ReignOfApril) October 25, 2016
like does amy schumer even have a publicist
— TrickorTracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) October 25, 2016
Schumer has been accused of racial insensitivity in the past, once after posting a Tweet she later deleted that suggested black men are more likely to commit sexual harassment than others.
She responded by insisting the video was a “tribute” to Beyonce’s original, and then said in an Instagram video, “I’m grateful. I’m grateful for all of this shit.”
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
