Thousands sign petition to get Wendy Williams fired for imitating cleft lip

Wendy Williams has apologized to the cleft community and donated to Operation Smile and American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association after more than 42,000 people signed a petition to get her fired after she used her finger to imitate someone with a cleft lip.

On the “Hot Topics” section of Jan. 7th The Wendy Williams Show, Williams was talking about how she found actor Joaquin Phoenix “oddly attractive” and liked his facial scar.

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“When he shaves off his mustache he’s got a hairline fracture. He’s got one of those – what do you call it? Cleft lip, cleft palate,” Williams said as she used her finger to pull up her upper lip on her show, “I find that to be very attractive.”

Since the episode aired, people have blasted Williams on Twitter, including Cher.

BEFORE THEIR TEENS‼️MUCH OF THE TIME THEY ARE IN PAIN,AFRAID,BUT HAVE HOPE 🙏🏻THEY WILL LOOK NORMAL. THE💔& FEAR THEIR PARENTS GO THROUGH IS UNBEARABLE. IF YOUR MOM SAW WHAT YOU DID SHE’D BE ASHAMED. MY MOM TAUGHT ME TO LOVE & HELP PPL IN PAIN.WHO ARE U⁉️U SHOULD B FIRED

— Cher (@cher) January 16, 2020

DOES AN APOLOGY MAKE UP FOR THIS pic.twitter.com/Su0OHB8hTG

— Cher (@cher) January 16, 2020

One outraged viewer, Corey Perry, even started a petition on Change.org to get Williams removed and has so far collected more than 42,000 signatures as of Friday morning. Perry wrote he started it for his friends who have a son with a bilateral cleft lip, hard and soft palate.

“So this ignorant piece of work decided to mock Joaquin Phoenix and his ‘hare lip, cleft lip palate’ on daytime television and even went as far as pulling her upper lip with her finger, she is a total disgrace,” Perry wrote on the petition. “Kids can be cruel and as a mother of an amazing little guy who was born with complete bilateral cleft lip, hard and soft palate, I am completely disgusted that she thinks it’s ok to ridicule and make a joke out of something that is completely out of our control.”

“The hours spent worrying about the hard times ahead for him, all the days spent in the hospital and the numerous surgeries he had to go through, the blood, the pain, the day to day activities that he had to miss because of feeding tubes that he needed to be able to get liquids to his stomach instead of his lungs (complications brought on by the hard and soft cleft palate called silent aspiration). His little lungs so scared up From lung infections due to this silent aspiration. And that is only a few of the complications that can come with a cleft,” Perry wrote.

“What I am saying is that she is a disgusting human being and in my opinion, if Don Cherry got fired for saying ‘you people’ than she should be banned from daytime TV,” Perry added.

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Wendy apologized and shared that her show will be donating to the cleft lip and cleft palate nonprofits Operation Smile and American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association.

“@Bighill44 We’re thinking about Beau today as he is in surgery. I want to apologize to the cleft community and in Beau’s honor, our show is donating to @operationsmile and @AmerClefPalate and encourage our Wendy Watchers to learn more and help support the cleft community,” Williams said on Twitter.

. @Bighill44 We’re thinking about Beau today as he is in surgery. I want to apologize to the cleft community and in Beau’s honor, our show is donating to @operationsmile and @AmerCleftPalate and encourage our Wendy Watchers to learn more and help support the cleft community.

— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) January 16, 2020

Some of Williams’ fan base came out in support of the talk show host and urged people to move on.

“Honestly people, you wanted her to apologize she’s done that, you wanted her to make a charitable donation, she’s done that. Let it go! If you hate her show so much, don’t watch it and stay off her social media page. No need to keep insulting her, otherwise you’re no better,” wrote Rose @RosebushoBethel.

Honestly people, you wanted her to apologize, she’s done that, you wanted her to make a charitable donation, she’s done that. Let it go! If you hate her show so much, don’t watch it and stay off her social media page. No need to keep insulting her, otherwise you’re no better.

— Rose (@RosebushoBethel) January 16, 2020

 

The post Thousands sign petition to get Wendy Williams fired for imitating cleft lip appeared first on TheGrio.

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Jay-Z Puts His Money Behind Criminal Justice Reform With Lawsuit Against Mississippi Prison

After several prisoner deaths at a Mississippi prison, The Mississippi Department of Corrections is being taken to court by none other than rapper and justice reform activist Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, according to NBC News.

Jay-Z is suing the head of the Mississippi Department of Corrections as well as the warden of the state penitentiary on behalf of 29 prisoners who claim that the two prison officials have done nothing to stop the violence there. There have been a reported five inmates dead in the past two weeks alone.

The lawsuit names the Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Marshall Turner as defendants in the case. “These deaths are a direct result of Mississippi’s utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated and their constitutional rights,” according to the lawsuit filed by Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro at the U.S. District Court in Greenville, Mississippi.

“We cannot treat people this way and it’s time to do something about it,” Spiro of the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan L.L.P. law firm, said in a statement to NBC News.

The lawsuit was started after a letter dated Jan. 9 of this year was sent to Hall and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on behalf of Jay-Z and hip-hop artist Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims. The basis of the correspondence was to protest the “inhumane conditions in prisons operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.” 

Spiro warned that they were “prepared to pursue all potential avenues to obtain relief for the people living in Mississippi’s prisons and their families.”

“This unthinkable spate of deaths is the culmination of years of severe understaffing and neglect at Mississippi’s prisons,” Spiro’s letter reads. “As Mississippi has incarcerated increasing numbers of people, it has dramatically reduced its funding of prisons. As a result, prison conditions fail to meet even the most basic human rights.”

“People are forced to live in squalor, with rats that crawl over them as they sleep on the floor, having been denied even a mattress for a cot,” the letter goes on to say.

Spiro ended the letter with a warning: “Roc Nation and its philanthropic arm, Team Roc, demand that Mississippi take immediate steps to remedy this intolerable situation.”

The Mississippi Department of Corrections responded to an NBC News request for comment by saying it does not discuss pending litigation.

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Jay-Z Puts His Money Behind Criminal Justice Reform With Lawsuit Against Mississippi Prison

After several prisoner deaths at a Mississippi prison, The Mississippi Department of Corrections is being taken to court by no other than rapper and justice reform activist Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, according to NBC News.

Jay-Z is suing the head of the Mississippi Department of Corrections as well as the warden of the state penitentiary on behalf of 29 prisoners who claim that the two prison officials have done nothing to stop the violence there. There has been a reported five inmates dead in the past two weeks alone.

The lawsuit names Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Marshall Turner as defendants in the case. “These deaths are a direct result of Mississippi’s utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated and their constitutional rights,” according to the lawsuit filed by Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro at the U.S. District Court in Greenville, Mississippi.

“We cannot treat people this way and it’s time to do something about it,” Spiro of the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan L.L.P. law firm, said in a statement to NBC News.

The lawsuit was started after a letter dated January 9th of this year was sent to Hall and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on behalf of Jay-Z and hip-hop artist Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims. The basis of the correspondence was to protest the “inhumane conditions in prisons operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.” 

Spiro warned that they were “prepared to pursue all potential avenues to obtain relief for the people living in Mississippi’s prisons and their families.”

“This unthinkable spate of deaths is the culmination of years of severe understaffing and neglect at Mississippi’s prisons,” Spiro’s letter reads. “As Mississippi has incarcerated increasing numbers of people, it has dramatically reduced its funding of prisons. As a result, prison conditions fail to meet even the most basic human rights.”

“People are forced to live in squalor, with rats that crawl over them as they sleep on the floor, having been denied even a mattress for a cot,” the letter goes on to say.

Spiro ended the letter with a warning: “Roc Nation and its philanthropic arm, Team Roc, demand that Mississippi take immediate steps to remedy this intolerable situation.”

The Mississippi Department of Corrections responded for an NBC News request for comment by saying it does not discuss pending litigation.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/30s5kkG