Bob Johnson, the founder and former CEO of BET apologized Thursday (January 17) to presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama for what appeared to be a thinly veiled disparaging remark this week regarding the senator’s acknowledged former drug use as a teenager.
Johnson drew criticism following remarks he made last Sunday at a Clinton campaign rally in Columbia, South Carolina.
“As an African-American, I’m frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Bill and Hillary Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that — and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book — when they have been involved.”
Many believe Johnson was referring to Obama‘s former marijuana and cocaine use in his college years, which the senator wrote about in his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father.
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Shortly after Johnson‘s remarks, the Clinton campaign released a statement from Johnson saying he had been “referring to Barack Obama‘s time spent as a community organizer and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect.“
The Obama campaign, however, did not accept his explanation.
“His tortured explanation doesn’t hold up against his original statement. And it’s troubling that neither the campaign nor Senator Clinton — who was there as the remark was made — is willing to condemn it as they did when another prominent supporter recently said a similar thing,” said Bill Burton, the Obama camp’s spokesman.
Bob Johnson sent Obama a letter and also reached out by phone to apologize for what he claims to be a misunderstanding.
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Burton responded Thursday afternoon, saying, “Obama accepts the apology. We’re going to leave it at that.”
