As if, Dionne! During a discussion about the 2016 Oscars controversy, Fox News contributor Stacey Dash declared on Fox & Friends on Wednesday, January 20, that the BET Awards and Black History Month should be eliminated — and BET responded that afternoon.
During her morning chat, Dash, 49, addressed the ongoing outrage over the lack of minority nominees in major categories, and turned the tables on networks like BET (Black Entertainment Television) for giving awards largely to black recipients.
“I think it’s ludicrous,” the Clueless alum told Steve Doocy. “We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration, and if we don’t want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we’d be up in arms. It’s a double standard.”
She took it a step further by saying the U.S. should rid itself of Black History Month, which is celebrated in February. “There shouldn’t be a Black History Month,” she shared. “We’re Americans, period.” Dash became a trending topic on Twitter after the comments went viral. Commenters quickly called out TV personality.
Every Time Stacey Dash Proved She Was Clueless: https://t.co/mto8DSxVhe pic.twitter.com/NBDorO6Jna
— BET (@BET) January 20, 2016
BET then chimed in via Twitter, linking to a gallery produced by its website titled “Every Time Stacey Dash Proved She Was Clueless.” The network featured some of Dash’s recent controversies, including her comments from Wednesday morning. “She thinks there needs to be a white history month too, since, you know, our ancestors apparently fought for nothing,” BET’s caption read. “Clueless indeed.”
Amid the uproar, Dash again reiterated her points on her blog. “I’ve written about this before, but apparently people are going nuts over what I said on Outnumbered today,” Dash wrote, also bringing up Morgan Freeman‘s past comments about Black History Month. (In an old appearance on 60 Minutes, Freeman called the celebration “ridiculous,” saying, “You’re gonna relegate my history to a month?”)
Donald Trump, who watched Dash’s bit on Wednesday, used her argument to support his own opinion about the idea of an Oscars boycott. “I saw somebody on your show today say, ‘Well, what do we do with BET?'” Trump recalled of Dash’s remarks. “The whites don’t get any nominations, and I thought it was an amazing interview, actually. I’ve never even thought of it from that standpoint.”
Watch their appearances in the videos above.
