Jesse Williams, most known for his role as Jackson on Greys Anatomy, has been under heat this past week due to a series of posts on his Instagram page and twitter.
In promoting his upcoming film he’ll be producing about the struggles of Emmett Till’s family, the actor used a number of gifs of what seemed to be a parody of the Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Ad. A few of the photos included Mamie Till Mobley, Emmett Tills mother, crying over her sons casket, and one of her and Till smiling. The pictures all accompanied the caption “Believe in something Even if it means sacrificing everything”, the same caption from Kaepernick’s ad, along with “Till coming soon” at the bottom.
The posts did not get the reaction the Grey’s star expected. Unfortunately the posts left individuals angered and offended. Many felt the star was using Till’s mothers grief for promotional reasons and taking it as a joke, in others words being completely insensitive. According to E Online one twitter user stated “This is probably the worst thing you could’ve done here,” and another from Kristian Winfield stating “whoever told Jesse Williams this was a good idea….”.
This prompted Williams to come out with an apology stating “I would absolutely never make light of the tremendous tragedy that foisted Mamie Till Mobley into her life of activism and could never pretend her child being brutally tortured and executed was her ‘sacrifice’. That doesn’t even kinda make sense, never mind being absurd and ahistorical”. Read the full apology below.
The movie is set to begin filming next summer, and will be c0-produced by Whoopi Goldberg. I personally am very excited for this film and believe the art used by Williams was not in any way intended to be offensive, but instead showed great creativity, and portrayed the sacrifices Mamie Till made after her son was brutally murdered. Unfortunately as Williams put it in his apology “every swing ain’t gonna be a homerun”. Comment down below what you thought of the promotional art and if you found it offensive.
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