Seal Slammed for Oprah Post, Goes Off on ‘Double Standard Nature of Hollywood’ (Video)
Seal is responding to backlash he received after publishing an Instagram post showing Oprah Winfrey in photos flanked by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The singer insisted in a new Facebook video (below) that the pictures of Winfrey, which were clearly taken before the Weinstein scandal broke last fall, were not aimed at her specifically, but rather shared to illustrate a larger issue in Hollywood.
“What I reposted was not an attack on Oprah at all,” Seal said in the Facebook video. “She just happened to be the one with the pig in the picture. No, what I reposted was commentary on the hypocritical and double standard nature and behavior of Hollywood.”
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The caption Seal had added to his previous Instagram post read: “Oh I forgot, that’s right…..you’d heard the rumours but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young starry-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad. #SanctimoniousHollywood.”
In the new Facebook video, the singer called out Fox News, saying he didn’t appreciate their coverage of the meme he had reposted, and asked that they not use him as a pawn against Oprah in any of their political games. “And Stacey Dash, keep my name out of your mouth,” he added of the “Clueless” actress.
Seal also addressed users who attacked him over the post, citing one in particular who called him an “Uncle Tom” and others who said they were “disappointed to see a brother tearing a sister down.”
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“Let me make something abundantly clear to you,” he said. “I am English born. But don’t get that ‘Baby! Kiss from a Rose’ stuff twisted. See these scars on my face? My parents are from Africa. More specifically, Nigeria. And I am about as Black as you will ever get.”
Seal expressed anger over the fact that since the #MeToo movement began, “not one of the women who have been sexually abused, not one of the women who have come forward, has received any real justice whatsoever.”
“Losing your job because you either a) raped b) sexually abused or even sexually harassed a woman is not real punishment,” Seal said. “You steal from the post office, you go to jail. And #RealTalk for a second. We all know what would happen to any one of those power abusers if they looked like me.”
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Seal concluded by applauding all the women who have come forward, saying that takes “real courage” and he hopes they continue to speak out.
The meme of Winfrey showed photos of her kissing Weinstein on the cheek and chatting with him at parties. “When you have been part of the problem for decades but suddenly they all think you are the solution,” the meme read.
Watch the full video below.
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