Actor Michael B. Jordan unveiled his J’Ouvert rum brand over the weekend and claims of cultural appropriation began to bubble on social media from the Caribbean community.
Nicki Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, took to Instagram on Tuesday (June 22) with a message for the superstar actor suggesting he change the name of his rum. J’Ouvert is a festival celebrating Caribbean culture that’s held annually in Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada during Carnival.
“I’m sure MBJ didn’t intentionally do anything he thought Caribbean ppl would find offensive— but now that you are aware, change the name & continue to flourish & prosper,” she wrote.
Some took to social media to voice their frustration with Michael B. Jordan trademarking the name last September and questioned his Trini roots.
With the pressure mounting, the Creed actor and his team acted swiftly in issuing an apology late Tuesday and shared they were in the process of changing the name from J’Ouvert.
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“I just wanna say on behalf of myself & my partners, our intention was never to offend or hurt a culture we love and respect & hoped to celebrate & shine a positive light on,” MBJ explained. “The last few days has been a lot of listening. A lot of learning and engaging in countless community conversations.
“We hear you, I hear you and want to be clear that we’re in the process of renaming. We sincerely apologize and look forward to introducing a brand we can all be proud of.”
It remains to be seen exactly what the Black Panther star plans to rename his rum brand to.
Didnt She run around in Chinese Clothes for Chun-Li Video???
you clearly missed the point.
you’ve missed the point….she’s got chinese letters tattoo’d on her body…she’s doing the EXACT same thing you Muppet!!
You missed having brain idiot
Bruh do what you do. You let the angry Twitter mob with clear mental illness run you off your plans.
Like telling Jeff Bezos to change the name of Amazon because he is not from South America or Nicki not wearing wigs because she is not white
Show..your…tits! Show…your…tits!
Cultural appropriation is the dumbest concept ever. Trinidad & Tobago was originally settled by Native Americans. Europeans took it over about 500 years ago, then most of the current populations ancestors settled there around 200 years ago. Their whole culture is a mix of indian, african and european cultures. Why would anyone with half a brain be offended by this or think that somebody else wouldn’t be influenced by them the way they were and are influenced by other cultures?
As much as your comment will be ignored due to the facts you stated, it’s a shame that the internet is full of idiots that won’t take the time to be educated, nor understand the history. Glad you said it tho!
Wtf I hate 2021. It’s your brand. Name it whatever you want
This is why these internet cry babies stay crying, cause dumb ass people and companies always give in.
Says the non-Chinese woman with Chinese letters tatoo’d on her body, wearing Chola (Latina) style makeup, often seen in Italian clothing brands, who made a song called “Chun-li” where she wears clothes inspired by faux traditional Chinese attire.
How far do we take this “cultures should never mix and if they do you’re evil/racist” in a place like America that houses and intermingles virtually every race and culture on the planet? Hip-hop was created by black people in America. Rock and Roll was created by black people in America. Jazz was created by black people in America. If black people in America can’t even say Trinidadian words or it’s cultural appropriation and of the devil, certainly Trinidadians can’t be involved in any of those genres or it’s cultural appropriation, right?
If a Trinidadian painter is like, “I’m inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat” it’s ok to boycott it right since Basquiat is an American, they aren’t, so how dare them engage with a culture that isn’t their own?
Like everything about Nicki Minaj is drawing influence from something else, even down to being someone from Northern culture rapping over Southern culture beats. It’s moronic for her to jump on this. Like if you’re blind it’s stupid to run around laughing at deaf people because they’re disabled. It just doesn’t make sense. The Queen of Cultural Appropriation cannot be out there fronting like she’s anti-it.
What’s the world going to think 100 years from now about nonsense like this when the whole world population speaks esperanto, identifies as trans and has 4 different ethnicities as grandparents. Nobody will give a fvck about any of this and it will all have been a colossal waste of time.
Guessing this was a joke, but its probably true. People are like incapable of seeing beyond what’s popular or accepted now and seeing how ridiculous internet things are in a wider context.
What? What if it is CARIBEAN rum? What the fuck? We should cancel the Wu Tang. They aren’t Chinese. Rename. Dumb as fuck.
Lmao yo for real!!
Name it “Overt”!