Well-known Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson can’t seem to catch a break.
Mckesson faced quite a firestorm on social media earlier this week after he accused the creators of the forthcoming movie “War for the Planet of the Apes” of “dehumanizing” him and associating black people with apes. And now Whoopi Goldberg, a co-host on ABC's “The View,” is joining the dog pile.
To recap: This entire controversy arose when Mckesson saw a new poster for the movie, which depicts one of the apes wearing a blue vest. The Black Lives Matter activist, and some other liberal social media users, assumed the vest must be a reference directly to Mckesson, who is known for donning similar outerwear.
Mckesson, seemingly frustrated by the depiction, posted two since-deleted tweets disparaging the “War for the Planet of the Apes” creators for their “lack of consciousness.”
“Given the history of rendering black people as apes, I’m offended & appalled by the lack of consciousness in Hollywood. #PlanetOfTheApes,” he wrote. “In associating black people w/ apes, active work is being done to perpetuate the dehumanization of black ppl in mass media.”
But on Wednesday, Goldberg decided to give Mckesson a history lesson.
“Get over yourself!” Goldberg told Mckesson, after instructing the liberal protester to “go back and watch the 1968 original and check out what the apes were wearing.” (Spoiler alert: They were wearing blue vests.)
“This has nothing to do with you,” the co-host said. “This was a movie about what happens when mankind doesn’t pay attention to the environment, to how we treat animals, and each other. That’s what that movie was about!”
Right after Goldberg lambasted — and educated — the Black Lives Matter leader for his accusations against the summer blockbuster’s creators, co-host Sunny Hostin jumped in to defend Mckesson, who she credited for doing “incredible work as a social activist.”
“I’m still confused as to what his tweets actually meant,” she said, arguing that maybe Mckesson had a valid point that just isn’t being interpreted correctly. “Is it possible?”
Before Hostin could continue, a clearly frustrated Goldberg jumped right back into the fray.
“No, it’s not. And don’t play that with this movie! That’s not what this movie was about,” Goldberg told Hostin. “It has nothing to do with him. It has nothing to do with black people."
Goldberg went on to offer some advice to Mckesson: “You’re doing great stuff. Don’t screw it up by doing something dumb.”
After this episode “The View” aired, Mckesson took to Twitter to address Goldberg directly.
Goldberg’s comments for Mckesson came after Twitter users of every political persuasion quickly jumped in to correct the Black Lives Matter leader for his uninformed conclusion.
After all, a quick YouTube search proves Goldberg is correct. Many of the apes in the original 1968 “Planet of the Apes” film are, in fact, wearing blue vests.
