Celebs Share the Coretta Scott King Letter That Elizabeth Warren Was Blocked From Reading in the Senate

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Debra Messing, Kerry Washington, and Tracee Ellis Ross were among the famous folks who shared Coretta Scott King’s letter on social media. (Photos: AP Images)
Debra Messing, Kerry Washington, and Tracee Ellis Ross were among the famous folks who shared Coretta Scott King’s letter on social media. (Photos: AP Images)

Celebrities are helping Coretta Scott King’s 1986 letter about Sen. Jeff Sessions go viral.

#LetLizSpeak trended Tuesday night after Sen. Elizabeth Warren quoted the letter questioning Sessions’s character and was silenced during the Senate debate over his nomination as attorney general. (Sessions was confirmed to be attorney general on Wednesday night.) In the letter, which was surfaced by the Washington Post last month, Scott King wrote to Sen. Strom Thurmond to expressed her “sincere opposition” to the confirmation of Sessions to a federal judgeship, saying that Sessions had used his political power to “intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.”

Related: Kanye West Deletes All of His Trump Tweets

Warren was cut short by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said she had breached the rules of the debate by reading the letter. “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” McConnell said. (#ShePersisted has also become a popular hashtag across the web.) Four male senators, including Bernie Sanders, later read from the letter and were not banned from the floor.

In light of the political brouhaha, the letter quickly circulated around social media, and celebrities were among the first to share the words of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife. Debra Messing, who has been a strong critic of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and his presidency, took to social media to read the letter.

#CorettaScottKing wrote these words about Senator Sessions. Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced tonight when trying to read her words. #CorettaKingSpeaks

A video posted by Debra Messing (@therealdebramessing) on Feb 8, 2017 at 12:04am PST

Many others shared one page of the letter (it is actually 10 pages) on social media, including Tracee Ellis Ross, America Ferrera, Connie Britton, and Bridget Moynahan, and Kerry Washington (below).

“READ THIS,” the Scandal star implored. “Tonight the GOP silenced @SenWarren AND Coretta Scott King.”

Related: Howard Stern Claims Trump Wants Hillary Clinton to Be President

Many more stars took to social media to offer general support for Warren — and to share their outrage over the political climate with the reality star in the Oval Office.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the minority Democrats, sat down with Yahoo Global Anchor Katie Couric on Wednesday and shared his reaction to the removal of Warren. He also talked about his belief that his Republican colleagues in Congress are concerned about Trump’s presidency but “afraid” to speak out against him.


While all this was going on, the president had other things on his mind — like his daughter Ivanka’s fashion line getting dissed. (Yes, we’re serious.)


More from Yahoo Celebrity: