
On Monday (Jan. 20), Sexyy Red decided to celebrate the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with an image that proved to be very controversial. The picture in question, which was AI-generated, saw the late civil rights leader locking hands with the St. Louis rapper in an unknown location.
On Tuesday (Jan. 21), the image drew a response from one of MLK Jr.’s daughters, Dr. Bernice King, on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty,” she wrote. “Please delete.”
Bernice also addressed the wealth of reactions to her disapproval. “Please don’t project your thoughts onto me. I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a ‘degenerate,’ ‘ghetto,’ or ‘trash,’” the King Center CEO explained before speaking on similar problems regarding the use of her parents’ likenesses in the past. “I just don’t understand this type of use of my father’s image (on MLK Day, no less), in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice. Even if you disagree with him or with his tactics or even believe things said about him by people who hated him, why do this?”
In response, Sexyy Red removed the offending post before expressing regret and understanding. “You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family. My apologies,” she tweeted to Bernice. “Just reposted something I saw that I thought was innocent.”
Bernice soon accepted the apology before utilizing the situation as a teachable moment. “Please know that it was not my intention that you be denigrated. I value you as a human being,” she began. “I hope you understand my concerns about the image. I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or to the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination).” Bernice closed by openly wishing that others could understand how it feels to “see their deceased, murdered father repurposed for party fliers, unjust legislation,” and other unbecoming mediums.