Jennifer Garner Receives Backlash Over A Video Questioning Regina King’s Ancestry

Mya Abraham
·2 min read
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Jennifer Garner is one of two famous white women named Jennifer facing backlash for inserting herself into Black people’s business.

In a clip from 2017, Garner asked an inappropriate question regarding Regina King’s ancestry. The two appeared on Chelsea Handler’s Dinner Party: My American Experience and King opened the discussion by talking about being a Los Angeles native.

King shared, “I grew up here in L.A., born and bred. One of the few people that are born and bred in L.A. It’s, I think, a very cool thing and I kind of wear it on my chest very proudly because so many people say, ‘Oh, L.A. is this and L.A. is that,’ and I’m like, well, you’re not from L.A., so you don’t really know it.”

Garner interjected to ask, “But do you know where your ancestors are from?”

After an awkward chuckle, the Oscar winner replied, “Well, yeah… They were part of the triangle slave trade. From Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Senegal, but my parents are both from the South. Met each other here. To this day, I’m totally grateful my mom left. My mom was the one that was like, ‘I am f**king out of this b***h and I’m going to see what else is out there,’ and she came to L.A.”

As the video went viral on TikTok, many questioned the racist undertone of Garner’s question.

One fan tweeted, “Nah Jennifer Garner definitely gave Regina King that white woman stare as she said she was from Los Angeles. I could tell she was about to be ignorant. Lmao they be thirsty for us to root our origin in slavery with nothing else mentioned or considered.”

Another wrote, “Jennifer Garner’s condescending question about Regina King’s ancestors is steeped in Jennifer Garner not expecting Regina King to have an answer, & deflects from Regina’s point about LA transplants/gentrifiers. Nasty work of attempting to discredit a person, & their point!”

Despite the video’s dated nature, Garner has not yet issued a public apology.

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